Concerts "Nord-Ost, We Are With You" take place in Moscow

"Nord-Ost", We Are With You" concerts will take place on Saturday and Sunday in the State Central Concert Hall (SCCH) "Rossia" in Moscow.

According to musical press service official Darya Morgunova, the concerts have been scheduled long ago, but the tragic events of the hostage taking in the Theater Center on Dubrovka forced the organizers to make fundamental changes. "The new version has a different tonality and content, even the decorations have changed," she explained.

Morgunova said that initially the concerts were meant to be festive, celebrating the first anniversary of daily showings of the musical, which started on October 19 last year. The original name for the concerts was supposed to be "Nord-Ost" Hosts World Musicals". After the tragic events, though, the concerts will be dedicated to the memory of the victims and to the revival of the show.

Actors rehearsed in a hall specifically rented for this purpose. Katya Guseva, who plays the part of Katya Tatarinova in the musical, rehearsed in circus because her part includes elements of balancing act.

In addition to the actors from the musical, some Russian pop stars will perform during the concerts, Morgunova said.

The last "Nord-Ost" performance was interrupted on Wednesday, October 23 when a group of terrorists stormed the stage in the beginning of the second act. They fired automatic weapons in the air and announced that the audience and actors had been taken hostage.

As a result of a special forces hostage rescue operation, 750 hostages were freed. All terrorists were eliminated or detained.