N. Narmontaitė’s good friend, singer L. Mikalauskas was invited to host the actress’ anniversary evening, which was organized by the support fund of the founder of the “Kino pavasaris” festival, Vida Ramaškienė. The purpose of the fund is to remember Lithuanian filmmakers – actors, directors, cinematographers. The anniversary evening of N. Narmontaitė was filmed by LRT television – the show will be broadcast on the actual birthday of the actress – April 12.
On the anniversary evening, Nijolė reminded the heroines of her performances, the prima donna of the stage – Maria Callas and Marlene Dietrich. Stylish blonde hairdo, red lips and an elegant, sparkling black dress, which was specially made for this occasion by clothing designer Egidijus Rainys.
“You are a talented, energetic and sincere star of the Lithuanian cultural sky, whose light also enriches those around you”, – these were the congratulatory words of the Prime Minister of Lithuania Ingrida Šimonytė, conveyed to N. Narmontaitei by the Prime Minister’s adviser on cultural issues, dr. Gabriele Žaidytė.
“I haven’t celebrated any of my birthdays in such a large group of people, my dearest, closest friends have gathered here, even more people will join us on TV screens,” actress N. Narmontaitė thanked the audience, reminding them that her lucky number is seven. – Each day of the week, of which there are seven, is like the seven wonders of the world to me – all different.
Seven musical notes help me express my feelings, looking at the rainbow of seven colors, I can’t help but drink in the beauty of nature. Even if we talk about age, men may not know it, but we women have seven stages of life – we are babies, girls, girls, young women, young women, young women, young women.
And the city of my happy childhood – Telšiai – stands on seven hills, here my friends from Telšia are sitting, together with my childhood friends.”
“Nijolė is the pride of our city, a staunch supporter of Žemaitian culture”, Roberts Pažemeckas, general director of “Žemaitijas pieno”, who contributed to the organization of the celebration, had good words for the native, and Nijolė made the guests laugh by reminding her colleague actor Adolfos Večerskis’ phrase, explaining why Nijolė is so easy to cry at the movies or on the set of the series: “So you think about your year!”
More fun memories were told on stage by the actors, Nijole’s first teacher Judita Ušinskaitė and colleagues from Šiauliai drama and Kaunas drama theaters. The guests sang together the song of the actress’ favorite character – Pepe Ilgakojinė, swayed to Vytautas Kernagis’ song “Our days as a holiday” performed by L. Mikalauskas and Egidijus Bavikinas, and were reduced to tears when they heard how Kamilė, the granddaughter of the actress, who lives in Tenerife, speaks Žemait with her grandmother Niole.
“I grew up behind the scenes of the theater, I spent a lot of time in the theater, I saw the characters you create, different emotions that allowed me to grow into a self-confident person. I thank you for your love and full support”, said Simonas Sabonaitis, son of the actress, who came to the celebration with his wife Daiva excitedly on stage.
Nijolė’s husband Paulius Kovas experienced no less excitement on stage. On his knees, he promised to say yes to all his wife’s requests.
“Fifteen years ago you said yes to me, you’ve never said no again.” Now it’s my turn to promise you, do you agree?” Paulius asked and almost forgot to give the jubilee his gift – tickets to Athens, to the recently opened Marias Callas Museum in this city.
