At the beginning of the year, BOK – MCC launched a new project called “Talent Forge”, aimed mainly at lower- and upper-secondary school students. The project is intended to bring together the efforts and energy of talented young people from Bolesławiec in one place and at one time. Its results will include musical theatre performances and other similar artistic activities. The instructor and musical arranger of “Talent Forge” is one of Bolesławiec’s finest guitarists Wojtek Szajwaj.
The first rehearsals for the musical have just begun. Its premiere will take place on May 3 at 5:00 p.m. in the Forum hall. The date is not accidental, as the content of this musical project is closely connected with the May Constitution holiday. The musical, provisionally titled “And I Don’t…, or How One Grows into Polishness in May”, tells the story of young residents of Bolesławiec belonging to two different peer groups. The story includes a romantic plot focusing on Julia and Radek, who come from completely different worlds but try to organise a certain undertaking together. What is it? That will be revealed on the day of the premiere.
“And I Don’t…” is the first project of “Talent Forge”, and it will immediately be a major event. Twenty-one people will take part in the musical, working from their own script and preparing the musical setting without the help of ready-made karaoke-style backing tracks. All the music will be performed live by the young people, and the audience will hear well-known hits in entirely new arrangements. The instructor of “Talent Forge”, Wojtek Szajwaj, is responsible for preparing the musical setting, writing out all the arrangements and directing the entire production. In addition to the premiere on May 3, performances for schools have also been scheduled for May 4 and 9.
The group consists of 21 people who attend secondary schools in Bolesławiec on a daily basis: Gimnazjum Samorządowe nr 2 and 3, I and II Liceum Ogólnokształcące, Zespół Szkół Elektronicznych and Zespół Szkół Budowlanych.
The vast majority are singing actors: Julia Gołębiowska, Karolina Kołodziej, Weronika Orawiec, Radek Kalamarz, Marika Zdunek, Magda Cichorzewska, Natalia Sikorzyńska, Eliza Sondaj, Arkadiusz Orawiec, Olaf Kramarski, Oliwia Leśków, Alicja Świca, Kamila Nazim and Marcel Sas. They will be accompanied by instrumentalists: Eliza Laudani, Jan Dziuba, Jakub Dziuba, Hanna Druzgała, Wiktoria Góra and Arek Leszczyński. The musical will also include a solo dance performed by Julia Babijczuk.