Ruža na asfaltu is a Croatian musical with a book by Igor Weidlich, music by Darko Hajsek and lyrics by Darko Hajsek and Ladislav Prežigalo. It premiered at Zagreb's Komedija Theatre in October 2007. Following a string of Komedija Theatre's foreign musical hits, Ruža na asfaltu was, at the time of its opening, the first original Croatian musical in more than a decade to be performed at the theatre.
Synopsis
In the suburbs of a big city, while Trenk is lamenting the fact that his girlfriend has left him for another woman, his friend Tvrtko meets Ružica and falls madly in love with her. Ružica seems to feel the same way; however, she is only in the city for a short while to visit her cousin Krešo and must soon go back to the country. There, she is set to enter into an arranged marriage to a man she doesn't love. When Ružica returns to the country, Tvrtko and his friends go after her, determined to bring her back with them. Once there, they soon begin to realize that the traditionalist world of Ružica's village might be more difficult to leave than they had expected.
Characters and original cast
; Trenk : Boy from the suburbs whose girlfriend has just left him for another woman ; Tvrtko : Boy from the suburbs, falls in love with Ružica ; Dora : Trenk's ex-girlfriend, left him for Meri ; Meri : Dora's girlfriend ; Krešo : Ružica's cousin, hails from the country but has made a life for himself in the city ; Sponzoruša : Krešo's gold-digging girlfriend ; Ružica : Country girl, wants to escape to the city ; Euzebije : Ružica's fiancé ; Stipe : Ružica's father ; Vrač Lovro : Traditionalist leader of the village community ; Beatrice : "The loveliest flower of the rural county"
"Oj ti luče, poriluče" — Vrač Lovro, Stipe and Company
"Kad si kraj mene ti" — Ružica and Tvrtko
"Beatrice" — Beatrice and Company
"Uha bez sluha" — Ružica
"I nikad više" — Euzebije, Tvrtko and Company *
"Zajdi, zajdi" — Tvrtko, Ružica and Company
"Isto sunce za sve nas" — Company *
* Songs omitted from the abridged Bundek version.
Production history
Original production
The original production of the show, directed by Marko Juraga, choreographed by Igor Barberić and musically directed by Krešimir Batinić, opened at Zagreb's Komedija Theatre on October 27, 2007. The musical received mixed reviews: Vjesnik called it "dynamic and alive", while Zarez commended the passion of everyone involved, criticized the lack of quality in the actors' performances, but ultimately declared the musical "hilariously amusing because of being bad". Although Vjesnik described the opening nightaudience response as "enthusiastic", the lack of audience interest caused the musical to play its final performance on April 14, 2008.
Abridged Bundek production
Ruža na asfaltu was performed once more on June 28, 2008, as a part of Komedija Theatre's free concert series given at Zagreb's Bundek Lake. Originally planned as a two-evening event, one performance was ultimately canceled because of bad weather. A shortened version of the show was performed at this venue, with most of the dialogue and several songs cut.
