Jan Révai: Singing in the rain? Because of him, I will be happy to jump somersaults even after fifty

Singing in the Rain has been playing for a few weeks in Prague. But you were also in the previous version, right?

She is mainly the same version that we started rehearsing and performing in Liberec in 2011 at the FX Šalda theater. I guess we played it for four years and then we toured Germany, we spent a little bit in Austria. Subsequently, the performance fell asleep for a while, only to be resurrected in České Budějovice at the Metropol theater, where we performed again for a few years. Singing in the rain fell asleep again for a while… And now we are sitting here together, on the stage of Prague’s Hybernia. And I’m glad for that, I’m glad that the audience in Prague will also be able to see our performance.

You mentioned the tour of Germany. I know the German-English version of Singing in the Rain was played there. How difficult was it for you to learn the role in foreign languages?

It was horrible! German is very difficult to pronounce on its own. If the audience is to understand a German-speaking Czech actor, they have to try hard. Because of this, we had a coach who monitored the pronunciation of each of our sounds. He tried to get us to pronounce everything well and, above all, not to make mistakes in the words. Everything had to fit together.

At the moment, if one of us forgets something during the performance, says something differently than he should have, then the other is totally lost and does not follow up on him… Unfortunately, improvisation is not possible. The preparation for the foreign tour was therefore not one hundred percent, but two hundred percent on our part.

On stage, in addition to speaking and singing, you tap and dance in Singing in the Rain. Does the brain work the same when it comes to Czech and foreign language text? Does it reliably, smoothly link all the components in sequence that you need for the role?

Must. In the case of singing, it’s easier. In English, the part is sung even better than in Czech. English is melodious, more free-sounding than most foreign languages.

Let’s go to Prague. In Liberec you played Singing in the Rain for several years, in České Budějovice it was similar. Can you guess if they will last for years in Hybernia?

The performance is played as long as the audience attends. Nowadays, it is difficult to judge what influences their interest in traffic. We have a pandemic, a war… People will hopefully return to the theaters again and want to have fun again, so our efforts associated with re-rehearsing will return to us and we will play in Prague for as long as possible.

Your pianist, who you play in the show, lives in Hollywood in the 1920s, when silent films were being switched to sound. Do you like movies for veterans?

To be honest, I’m not much of a movie buff, but a movie buff, yes.

Apart from them, your work also includes serials. I know you just finished one for Voyo about the Czech secret intelligence service, the Extractors. Can you tell me more about them?

Yes, the series is already finished, the material is in the editing room. In it I play my colleague Jakub Štáfek, we are both in the secret services of the state, our missions are of course secret… so you have to wait for the series. It will be an exciting spectacle.

Another detective series, I understand. You are also on the side of the law in another project. I am talking about the movie Alice Nellis, directed by Tomáš Mašín, Silent Secret. What can you tell me about him?

It is the story of a man who, as a result of a serious accident, loses the ability to communicate with the world and the world with him. In it, I played an operative who finds out why the tragedy happened, who is to blame for it, if there is one at all… I am paired with Igor Chmela and the main heroines are Jana Plodková, Magdalena Borová and the excellent Milena Steinmasslová.

Even for this project (the Czech premiere is planned for September 7 – note red.) I am very happy. It is a psychological story of a person who loses his freedom to decide for himself. The filmmakers are trying to start a bigger debate about the disease in our country, so that people with aphasia in our country can be helped, for example, with their integration into everyday life. Václav Neckář, for example, suffers from it. The statistics are very hard, more people have the disease than we think. Unfortunately, many of the patients close themselves off from the outside world. He is shy to speak in public because the disease mainly causes a speech comprehension disorder. Others don’t always understand you.

This is a serious topic, but the next series that viewers will be able to see you in soon, Sex O’Clock, deals with similarly serious matters. The coming-of-age story of a young boy, a dancer, is quite unconventional by Czech standards, as his producer TV Nova promises. Tell me in what?

I hope that this mini-series will open many taboos of children’s adolescence and leave the door wide open… The mini-series was directed by Jan Bártek and Karolína Zalabáková. Their style of directing the actors was very lively, spontaneous and youthful. I played the father of the main character, who, in addition to the usual adolescent problems and love affairs, deals with his dancing career, but also with a big family disappointment…

In connection with the filming of the project, I came across a position: an intimacy coordinator who was on the set. Did he also advise you on something?

I didn’t have to (laughs). He mainly advised younger actors who had intimate scenes in the series. He helped them to make the rapprochement in front of the camera as natural as possible… Before filming, they also attended a “weekly training session”, where they got to know each other better and tried out individual situations.

Speaking of age, you have two sons. Will you let them have Sex O’Clock when you get the chance?

The older, twelve-year-old for sure, the younger, who is nine, maybe also, why not… The dialogues are really apt and humorous, and funny situations from our lives are also something to look forward to.

I will return to the world of romantic musicals. What time did you play anyway?

Dracula, Vlasy, Joan of Arc, Cats, West Side Story, Pomade… There were a lot of them… But at that time I also started receiving offers from drama and film. This is something that even at the moment fulfills me much more than the musical… But I stayed with it for a long time, and that’s why I don’t want to go back at all. I’m waiting for Chorus Line – I would easily fight for the role of Michael Douglas.

And can you stand Singing in the Rain?

I will last as long as my body will let me.

Has the audience that comes to you now changed?

The audience probably isn’t changing, I’m rather not attracted by the titles that are currently being produced here. Singing in the rain is, of course, a musical classic, here I will be very happy to sweat blood and jump somersaults even after fifty.

Have you really not seen a good musical in Prague in recent years?

But yes, for example Ondra Brzobohatý did a wonderful Sherlock Holmes. I was really excited about it, all the components worked one hundred percent and everything fit together perfectly. But then there are productions that make musicals under the slogan: THAT’S GOOD, THAT’S ENOUGH, and that’s definitely not enough for me.