100 years have passed since the birth of the composer Ülo Vinter. One of the most famous works of him is the musical “Pipi Pikksukk”, which brought Helgi Sallo and Anu Kaalu to the stage of Estonia for the first time in the main roles.
“In November 1969 the comedy “Pipi Pikksukk” was released in Estonia. On December 14 this year it will be sixty years since I scrubbed in this house,” said Helgi Sallo, who, together with Anu Kaalu, was the first actor in the legendary Estonian production “Pipi Pikksukk” of Pip incarnated. “I have been in Estonia for many years and it is like a second home,” added Anu Kaal.
Sallo recalled how Nõmmik came to him and told him that he was going to do this play and asked him how the role of Pip seemed to him: “Then I thought it was unthinkable,” Sallo said. “As big and bony as I am, Pipi must still be a tiny little woman. But when I heard that Anu Kaal would also do Pipi, who was obviously perfectly suited to Pipi in terms of physique, I was still really surprised and wondered and admired that a singer with such a voice and coloratura would take this risk and start playing the role of Pip.”
Helgi Sallo Pipina Author/source: Piret Kooli
Anu Kaal came up with the idea for the role of Pip in the security post of the theatre
“I was still a fool at that time,” Kaal laughed. “Crazy, there’s not much to say about me. But the role of Pip came in such a way that from time to time we were still sitting at the security desk in the theater, because at that time I was waiting for someone there too, and The singer Marvi Taggo came. And as always he made his jokes, he told me that there is a production of Pip in the theater, maybe you want to do it too. And I thought like clockwork that it would be a fantastic role, because shouldn’t I want it, but who will give me this role?”
After a few days, Nõmmik came to Kaalu and asked him if it was true that he wanted to be Pip. “I said why not try it, and I did,” Kaal recalled. “I didn’t imagine that Pipi would be taken so seriously. Later I got used to it and made concessions to myself. But there was so much running, climbing and all kinds of tricks on stage. There is one thing that “I am sorry. I could have told Nõmmik everything and everything from him, but I hadn’t done anything with him, even though as a director he accepted everything you offered him as an actor. I’m sorry I was a good jumper when I was young, why didn’t I offer it to Nõmmik? But I didn’t dare.”
Anu Kaal Pipina Author/source: Piret Kooli
Questions not asked by Sulev Nõmmik and Eri Klas
Sallo had been in Estonia for five years when Pip was created. “Sulev saw that there was a need for someone for the role. You have a theater salary and you have to do something,” Sallo said. “I’m not an opera singer, I haven’t performed a classical operetta yet, that’s why he just offered me. I could never ask Nõmmik himself why he offered me this role, just as I never asked Eri Klas why I invited to the Estonian Theater for auditions, but I think Nõmmik saw that I was offered the same roles and wanted to try something else with me.”
“I was mad at him, though, for not letting me play as Pip,” Sallo said. “All the while I was pumping the brakes again. But I’m looking for some kind of warmth. It took me a while before I realized that why emphasize what I already have, Nõmmik wanted to get heat from under the bark.”
The timeless music of Ülo Vinter
“Looking back, these songs were damn well written and well composed, orchestrated,” Sallo said of Ülo Vinter’s music, which was played in the show. “In Winter, the character of Pip was captured so well and translated into a sonic language.”
For Sallo, the brightest moments of the show are related to the song “Sponge”. “In some performances, it was still hard not to cry during this song,” Sallo recalled. “Take one of the citadels and sing it as if it were your best friend, mother or grandmother. It was so beautiful. And how tenderly and delicately the orchestra played.”
“Spunk was like a child to Pip,” Kaal said. “Like girls want a doll and a pram, the feminine side that lives inside us. Pipi found this bug, so he’s my son.”
Sallo was very afraid of jumping from the roof during production. “Even though we had put down the mattresses,” he added. “My friend was the director of the nursery and I remember sitting for hours in the nursery and just watching the children play outside. I couldn’t help but be amazed at how quickly the children transform. He is busy in one activity and the next moment he’s in another. Then I tried it on stage too.”
“Sometimes I missed heights, I wasn’t afraid of heights,” Kaal added. “There were a lot of jumps.”
Pipi, eternal fighter for freedom
Anu Kaal went to Milan to work at La Scala after playing the role of Pip. “The role of Pip gave me more freedom on stage and made me think about why I couldn’t give a little more of myself on stage.”
“When I look back and think about why I needed this role of Pip, after I knew how to better share my strengths, I learned that I am capable of many things, which perhaps I would not have believed in myself at the time. start,” Scarf said. “I also learned that it is possible to show tenderness and tenderness on stage and people accept it.”
“I like the idea of Pipi being a freedom fighter,” Sallo said. “After all, Pipi wanted every person to be as he is. Why should he be scolded? If you don’t hurt or disturb others, why can’t you be as you are? Because there must be prescriptions everywhere. Let the person decide something for himself.”
2024-01-12 14:02:00
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