Directly from the underground: COOL - The West End Opera
 

The year is 2039, Vivian wins a trip back to the year 1999. This is where she lives through the last days of the West End shopping center, which was then the meeting place of her clique. One more time she feels the life of the young people at the end of the 20th century…
Four thousand people were attracted by this story and came to the Tollwood Festival in Munich. Over thirty young performers lit fireworks. There was great brakedancing to the story which came directly from the everyday live of the performers. The West End opera is the first hip-hop opera in the history of music. And the success at the premier justifies this idea. But that shouldn’t be the end. At the moment, the european tour is taking place. Dado (22) is also with them. His real name is Admir Merdanovic and he comes from Kljuc, a city in the north of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is playing the small dealer Wollo in COOL. MIRKO talked to him just before his appearance.
MIRKO: "Your piece is about drugs, love and violence. How did you come to these stories?"
Dado: "The complete story comes from us. We put our personal experiences into the piece. We would like to show our audience what moves us. My favorite part is the jam in the West End house. That’s when everything goes wild on the stage!"
MIRKO: "Two years of preperation is a long time. What does opera mean to you today?"
Dado: "I’ve learned many things here, most importantly all of the new dance styles."
MIRKO: "When there are thirty people working together from time to time, there must be some problems and quarrels?"
Dado: "Only small things ­ but the goal the making of a good opera, makes us come closer to each other. In the meantime we are like one family, but of course there are still some quarrels from time to time."
MIRKO: "What will happen after your European tour?"
Dado: "The end of COOL is nowhere in sight. But once it does come, I’ll continue to make music in any case."