STYL ROZHOVOR

The Best Czech Musical Singer of 2022,

a Friend of Horses and an Adrenaline Enthusiast.

Hana Fialová is all This and Much More.

Marfusha, Fantine, Eliška Pomořanská, Evita or Edith Piaf. Do you know what these ladies have in

common? All of these femmes fatales have been unforgettably portrayed non the stage of the National

Moravian-Silesian Theatre by Hana Fialová, winner of the Jantar Award and two-time winner of the Thalia

Award. In a friendly, informal chat with Radúz Mácha, chairman of the editorial board of POSITIV magazine,

she shared a lot of interesting things about herself.

Hanka, you were born on May 1st. So you were

basically a May Day present for your parents. Do you

have any childhood memories of parade wands and

balloons in the May Day parades?

Yes, I really am a May Day present (laughs). My mother

told me that when the ambulance took her away, that

it was literally “in the last minute“. The parades were

everywhere and she got to the maternity ward at the last

very moment. Of course, I remember the wands. I thought

that May Day and the parade with the wands and balloons

were for a celebration of my birthday. And I usually liked

going to the parade because I was such a little exhibitionist

from a young age. However, I do have a not so pleasant

memory of the wand. My sister and I used to make our

Dad angry, and he was quite strict. One time we got

beaten with the wand and not only was the “wand“ threecolored, our butts were as well.

How do you remember your beginnings as a singer?

Did you sing as a child, did you go to a singing group?

I used to sing all the time. I think I may have started singing

before I started talking. There is a recording where I‘m not

even three years old and I‘m singing a Czech song ‚Černé

oči, jděte spát‘ there. I remember that as a little kid I liked

to watch adult female singers on TV who used vibrato

when they sang, I loved to imitate that back then. Can you

imagine a three-year-old imitating her favorite singers?

Let‘s jump to 1986. I read that you were the winner

of the regional round of the Talent 86 singing

competition and made it to the national finals. How

do you recall that?

Yes, I was already studying at the conservatory then. I was

in the same round with Leona Machálková, who was not

as famous back then, and we became friends and even

shared a room together. At that time, I was first in the

regional round and that‘s why I qualified for the national

round. It was something like the Pop Idol. The entire final

with ten winners from all over the country was televised.

However, I didn‘t go there for personal reasons. I was in

love with a guy who had a weekend leave from the army

and I preferred to go to see him. I don‘t regret it.

Text: Barbora

Kubalová

Foto: Petr Hrubeš

Between 1994 and 2004 you were a solo singer of

Red Hats band - what did these 10 years give you?

I remember those years very fondly. The Red Hats were

a girl country band and fittingly we all wore red hats. I had

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some amazing adventures with these girls. We toured

Europe - we went to festivals in Italy, Poland and Germany.

We even had a separate 14 night tour in England. Also,

those years gave me quite a lot of practice in singing

because we aren‘t “locked“ into one genre. Country is

quite varied, it has elements of pop and swing. So it was

a pretty good school.

I may have started singing

“ I think

before I started talking.

”

Since 2003 you have been a member of the musical

ensemble of the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre.

Next year will be your jubilee, 20 years. How many

roles have you performed during that time?

I haven‘t counted, but about seven years ago my friend

David Velčovský, who worked as a producer at the time,

gave me a big poster as a gift where he listed all of my

roles so far. I was amazed at how many there were, I had

forgotten many of them.

In 2014, you won your first Thalia Award because you

literally shone in the musical drama Edith and Marlene

as Edith Piaf. This year, you won your second Thalia for

your role as Áda Harris in the musical Flowers for Mrs

Harris. What did these awards bring you?

Of course it brought me great joy, it‘s always about

emotions and surprises. It was even more of a surprise

the second time, I really didn‘t expect that, in the words

of the divine Karel (laughs). But besides the euphoria and

joy, it brings a certain responsibility. It‘s a commitment,

one that should always be working. With the first Thalia,

there was a period of time when I thought that the role

of Edith Piaf and the first Thalia didn‘t bring me anything

fulfilling. Fortunately, that period only lasted a short time

and I started to like Thalia and the role of Edith Piaf again.

The second time was really unexpected and I am very

happy about the award. It‘s a kind of glass confirmation

that it‘s all working and it makes sense.

Is there anything you haven‘t achieved in your

profession at this point? Any special wish or dream?

Of course, there are roles that I really like. I like to joke

sometimes about the role of Sally Bowles from the musical

Cabaret - I sing the theme song from the musical and

think to myself that‘s a role I‘ve never sung. I won‘t sing it