MgA. Stanislav Moša
Biography
Manager and director of Brno City Theatre, songwriter, librettist
Born on 12 February 1956 in Nový Jičín, he studied Music and Drama at the State Conservatory in Ostrava after graduating from grammar school, and later graduated from Theatre Directing at Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno (JAMU) at 1983. After finishing his degree he became a director at the Mrštík Brothers Theatre under Milan Pásek and directed a number of successful and critically acclaimed productions. He completed his military service as a dramaturge of the so-called small units at Army Art Ensemble in Prague (1983/1984).
In 1989 Moša started directing at the National Theatre and created numerous successful productions: Hubač’s “Modrý Pavilon”, Žáček’s “Ptákoviny podle Aristofana”, Spiró’s Garden. During 1984 and 1994 he taught Drama and Musical Acting, Directing, and Theatre Management and Brno JAMU. For three years he also worked as Artistic Director at the university’s Marta studio.
In September 1990 he became Artistic Director of the Mrštík Brothers Theatre. In February 1992 he succeeded J. Kolegar as manager of the theatre, renamed Brno City Theatre in 1993, and has been managing it since.
Moša has directed over 150 productions, both in Czech theatres and abroad, in Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Luxemburg, Switzerland, Slovakia, Austria, Croatia, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. His dramatic productions include A. Casona – The House With Seven Balconies and The Lady of the Dawn, J. Schmidt – “Třináct vůní”, K. Tachovský – “Mor”, J. Bouček – “Noc pastýřů”, B. Hrabal – “Něžný barbar”, N. V. Gogol – The Government Inspector, S. Shepard – A Lie of the Mind, V. Nezval – “Manon Lescaut”, E. Rostand – Cyrano de Bergerac, W. Shakespeare – Romeo and Juliet and George VIII., R. Bean – Honeymoon Suite, F. Mitterer – “V jámě lvové”, A. P. Čechov – Three Sisters, M. Kundera – “Jakub a jeho pán”. He dramatized Simon Mawer’s novel The Glass Room and directed Shakespeare’s The Venetian Merchant and King Lear starring Boleslav Polívka.
His musical productions include “Oliver!”, “My Fair Lady (ze Zelňáku)”, “Radúz a Mahulena”, The Witches of Eastwick, Les Misérables, Chicago, Spring Awakening, “Ptákoviny podle Aristofana”, Pope Joan, Sugar! (Some Like It Hot), Blood Brothers, Flashdance, Cats, Ghost, Titanic and others. He directed musical shows of “Musicals of Broadway” and “Magical Broadway”, which the Brno ensemble performed for not only its home audience, but also across Europe. Among some other musicals directed by Moša are Midsummer Nights’ Dreams”, West Side Story, Cabaret, Evita, Fame, Jesus Christ Superstar, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Beauty and the Beast, and The Angel & the Sparrow, many of which were performed internationally in many European cities. He directed Honegger’s oratorio Joan of Arc at the Stake for the 2010 Moravian Autumn festival.
Stanislav Moša is also a writer, librettist and songwriter and has worked with Zdenek Merta and Petr Ulrych.
His most successful texts in drama were his adaptations of I. Kříž’s The Truth about the Fall of Sodom, J. Hašek’s novel The Good Soldier Švejk and Simon Mawer’s novel The Glass Room. In musical theatre he has written “The Midsummer Nights’ Dreams” (1991) in collaboration with Zdenek Merta, a dramatic oratorio Bastard (1993), a musical opera Babylon (1998), a musical “Svět plný andělů” (2000), a musical tale for children “Zahrada divů” (2004) and the first two parts of a musical trilogy “Osudová komedie” – “Peklo” (2008) and “Očistec” (2013). He worked with Petr Ulrych on the musical ballad “Radúz and Mahulena” (1997) and the musical “Koločava” (2001) based on the tales of Nikola Šuhaj, May (2004) based on the works of Karel Hynek Mácha, and “Markéta Lazarová” (2007). He worked with Miloš Štědroň to create “Hra o lásce, smrti a věčnosti…” (1998). His large project Bernsein’s Mass (1997 and 2001), created with Zdenek Merta, featured over 300 performing at the Prague castle and in Brno’s Rondo Hall. Moša directed and wrote the libretto for Merta’s opera La Roulette presented at the State Opera in 2005. He is a well-known director both on Czech and foreign scenes on which he has worked on more than 40 projects since the 1980s.
Stanislav Moša founded today’s Music Theatre, the second stage of the Brno City Theatre, which opened on 2 October 2004.
He has directed several TV drama productions for the Czech Television – e.g. “Dokonalá svatba”, “Škola základ života” and in 2011 presented his own Czech Radio show “Mikrofórum před půlnocí”.
In 1992 he received the Czech Music Fund Award for his musical series “Midsummer Nights’ Dreams”. In 1996 his Brno City Theatre was awarded the City of Brno prize. Maribor, Slovenia, awarded him for his innovative directing of the musical Kabaret. In 2002 he received the Nova Gorica city award for developing Czech-Slovenian relations, in 2010 he received the Theatre News Award for his musical “Probuzení jara”, in 2012 he became a laureate of the Chamber of Commerce award and then lifetime achievement award from DILIA. He regularly appears in Brno’s TOP 100 ranking of celebrities and his Brno City Theatre is featured among the most successful organizations ranking.