We agree to meet at Sunset Grill&Bar at noon. They’re very punctual. Both are at the restaurant on time. Seeing them together after years is like witnessing a historical moment. One cannot take his eyes off; He doesn’t want to interrupt or interrupt his words. Haldun Bey says that he eats lunch at 13.30 every day without skipping. We place our orders before we start the conversation. Haldun Bey sings duck, Semiramis says sushi. They also react to the acidic drink I told them, “Don’t drink it”. After all, the secret of their youth is a little bit of proper nutrition. Both of them are still looking at each other with sparkling eyes. ‘Musicals from Broadway to Istanbul-SymphonicPekkan, who will be on the stage again for the ‘ project, is very excited. Dormen, on the other hand, says easily, “You can do it, sweetie”. Then they begin to tell their stories…
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◊ When and how did you meet?
Semiramis Pekkan: Ooo, you go back so long, Hakan.
Haldun Dormen: We met in Ankara.
Semiramis Pekkan: No, we met before, but we met on the street in Ankara.
Haldun Dormen: You were so young and I made you an actor.
Semiramis Pekkan: I went to Ankara for a trip. We met on the way, he asked, “A Semiramis, what are you doing?” I replied, “I came to my friend, I will stay for a while”. “Wait a minute, now I’ve left Güner Sümer (actor), they are looking for a young girl for the lead role for the play ‘Broken Order’ at the Ankara Art Theatre. “Haldun, are you crazy, I just watched the theater,” I said. “You can do it honey,” he said. Respect
to hear this word from a person you heard
it is very heavy. When he says “you can do it, honey”, woe, you have to do it honey!
◊ So what happened?
Semiramis Pekkan: We went straight to Güner Sümer from there. Mr. Güner took a look, I don’t know what he thought, but he gave me a text and said, “There is a reading tomorrow.”
I memorized the entire text that night when I was about to die of fright. what is fear
makes people do it!
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Haldun Dormen: But you did, honey.
Semiramis Pekkan: Out of fear of starting something I’ve never done.
◊ The friendship that started there continued until this time, so…
Semiramis Pekkan: Wait, it didn’t end there. Theater is a very important step in my life. I was successful, thank God. But there was not such a big income in the theater, it was a very troubled period. Meanwhile, Ajda (Pekkan) said, “Here film I’m doing it, come on, you can do it too” he said, “You also did a ready-made theater…” I said “OK”, then I stayed in Ankara for two or three years. Then I came to Istanbul.
Meanwhile, my sister is wreaking havoc with the songs of Ajda Pekkan. I spent a period with my friends in the backstage of Haldun Dormen Theatre, sniffing the theater a bit. Then, İbrahim Bey from Kervansaray had clubs and he called me.
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Haldun Dormen: It was very important.
He used to go to those places every evening.
Semiramis Pekkan: Yes, I also went to the interview, “I will be very frank. Ms. Ajda is losing her head. I want you to sing too. I want to make you a rival to Ms. Ajda,” she said. I wasn’t even the type to sing in the bathroom. On the contrary, Ajda is a type who sings whatever she can get her hands on since she was a child. So how can there be such a competition?
◊ So what did you do?
Semiramis Pekkan: He offered me a coin, I blew my mind.
◊ How much money?
Semiramis Pekkan: Let me tell you what I did with that money. I bought an apartment in the most beautiful place of Nişantaşı. May God have mercy on Haldun’s brother, Gülerciğım (Yiğit), said, “A woman must first have a house and then a jewellery.” He bought a big diamond from the Grand Bazaar. I also bought a plane ticket to Italy.
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◊ Why the ticket?
Semiramis Pekkan: Because the night I go on stage, I think I will be disgraced and run away (laughs). But why Italy, I have no idea about that.
Confirmation from Ajda
◊ What does Ms. Ajda say to all this?
Semiramis Pekkan: I went to Ajda. “Oh, take the money, are you crazy! Take care of yourself,” he said. It doesn’t even occur to him that it will be a good thing.
(laughs). Then of course I went to Haldun.
What did he say? “Oh, you can do it, honey,” he said.
The second ‘you can do it honey’ and it was two milestones.
◊ What happened the first night you went on stage?
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Semiramis Pekkan: All hell broke loose that night. Ajda didn’t talk to me for two years, but she was right.
◊ He didn’t expect this, did he?
Semiramis Pekkan: He didn’t expect it at all, in fact no one was expecting it. But I guess what I did was not about my voice. What I did was the package.
Haldun Dormen: My brother Güler found the first song for you, right?
Semiramis Pekkan: Yes, Güler went to London at that time. He turned and said, “My dear Semiramis,” “I found a song for you”. Song ‘What Kind of Life Is This’. He also received the first Gold Record. While I have neither theater nor music background, there is this thing called fear… Two careers from zero.
◊ I guess you had a relationship at that time with Haldun Bey…
Semiramis Pekkan: Sure, we had something very respectable, loving. It took two or three years, I guess. But we had a good time
what a great period it was.
◊ Then you managed to stay friends…
Semiramis Pekkan: How not to be friends with such a civilized person! There are no words to talk about Haldun’s career, but he is one of the most valuable people I know as a person. That’s why he said “You can do it honey” 50 years later and here we are.
A musical journey from Broadway to Istanbul
◊ You will be on stage again on September 20. Has it been 50 years?
Semiramis Pekkan: 50 odd years. I last appeared on the scene in 1968-69. I already made the scene too short..
◊ What awaits us that night?
Semiramis Pekkan: The important thing is that for the first time in my life, I will set foot on the same stage with my Halduncuk. Sharing this moment with him will be one of the best memories of my life.
◊ What songs will you sing?
Semiramis Pekkan: ‘They Lied to Me’ and ‘What Kind of Life Is This’.
Haldun Dormen: I think like this; I will go on stage last and sing a song. Then I will introduce Semiramis and he will say ‘What Kind of Life Is This’.
◊ So, what else will happen on stage?
Haldun Dormen: We made ‘Musicals from Broadway to Istanbul’ twice in previous years. It attracted a lot of attention, queues formed. This time ‘Les Misérables’, ‘Chicago’, ‘Cabaret’, ‘Fiddler on the Roof’, ‘Notre-Dame de Paris’, ‘Grease’, ‘Evita’
and ‘Cats’, as well as famous Broadway musicals such as ‘Luxury Life’, ‘Shared Wonders Company’, ‘Şen Sazın Nightingale’ and ‘Kantocu’, we will make the audience take a musical journey from Broadway to Istanbul with meticulously selected tracks from blockbuster Turkish musicals. There are players such as Asuman Dabak, Burak Sevinç, Canan Ergüder, Emre Altuğ, Emrah Eren, Ethel Mulinas, Lilya İrem Salman, Nilsu Berfin Aktaş, Pelin Akil, Pelin Karahan, Pelin Ulusar.
The disappearance of gifted children
I’m afraid you’ll go
◊ Is it easier or harder to be famous when you look at the old days and today?
Haldun Dormen: Being famous is not easy. Because the competition has grown so much. He has returned to America, there are so many people here… 1,600 people applied for even a small role in a play the other day. Besides, I am a theater actor and I can say that there are so many good writers and directors that I am surprised. I think Turkish theater is in a very, very good condition.
Semiramis Pekkan: They are very capable. But in an era when consumption is very easy, I feel sorry for them. I fear that children of such talent will perish. It wasn’t like that in the past, it would stay out.
◊ Do you watch TV series? Who do you like?
Haldun Dormen: No, I don’t watch TV series. I only watch ‘MasterChef Turkey’ and ‘Survivor’. Because there are always the same issues in the series, it bothers me. That’s why I’m missing some new players as well.
Semiramis Pekkan: I watch the series, not all of them. Who I like changes every day.
life is a choice
◊ There is a Semiramis visible from the outside… Starlight, inaccessible, does not talk much, does not give conversations, is invisible… Can you tell us about the woman behind it?
Semiramis Pekkan: Invisible Semiramis is no different from the Semiramis you see now. But it is a decision and you will experience the consequences. I don’t find it right to constantly change decisions in life. Since I made such a decision, I lived it.
◊ Why did you make that decision and stay away from art?
Semiramis Pekkan: Because I wasn’t a singer anyway. So I wasn’t singing.
Haldun Dormen: But you are an artist.
Semiramis Pekkan: I mean, there was something like that in my soul, it happened, that’s a separate issue. But maybe the things I expected from life were different and I changed my preferences.
I did it that way.
◊ Did you find what you expected?
Semiramis Pekkan: Yes, life is a choice, one has to live with choices and be happy in it. You must stand behind a decision you say or make. Otherwise, I don’t see myself as an unreachable star.
Haldun Dormen: But you are not easily reachable.
Semiramis Pekkan: My dear! I’ve had three careers that I can say; one of them is theater, the most important to me
It was one of the careers. A period when I sang from behind, after that I had a very serious success in the field of fashion.
And then there’s family life…
You will not lose hope, you can do anything with perseverance.
◊ When you look at it now, what period of your life are you in?
Semiramis Pekkan: I am in the best period of my life. I am a person who enjoys living, enjoys what I live. Am I living a great life when I say this? No. I am a person who enjoys the little things. That’s why I was able to make the decisions I wanted in life.
◊ Did those resolutions end happily?
Semiramis Pekkan: Yes, but actually there is no such thing as happiness all the time. Life is not like that. what matters
its ups and downs, accepting it all and being aware of it. Being aware of acceptance. I guess I had that too, maybe I was born that way. I mean, every soul comes different, I came with such a soul.
Haldun Dormen: Since I have always lived in the backstage, I will do theater as long as God gives health. It’s such a period in my life. But every chance I get, I say to young people, “Never lose hope”. Because behind everything there is hope. I’m telling you too. There are definitely ups, but there are also ups in this life. After every descent comes the ascent. This is the first thing I talk to children in my classes: “You will never lose hope, you can do anything with perseverance. You will say that perseverance is a very important thing, I will do it. You can do it, honey.”
◊ The title of the interview will be “You Can Do It, Sugar” at this rate…
Semiramis Pekkan: Indeed it should be. You can do it honey (laughs).
◊ You look very energetic, vigorous and young. What is your secret?
Semiramis Pekkan: There is something called mind. So it happens when you do the right things. Well, there’s also a little bit of genetics, I guess, right?
Haldun Dormen: Yes .
Semiramis Pekkan: There’s also the soul. Spirit is very important.
Haldun Dormen: It is very important to love and understand people… It keeps you upright.
Semiramis Pekkan: You have to look at life with love.
.