The Maly Theatre has remembered the departed and greeted the living on the renovated historic main stage.

RIA Novosti photo report

Photo report by m24.ru

Photo report by 7days.ru

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One of the oldest theatres in Moscow - Maly- is finally back home. A gala concert was held on Sunday night, March 26 on the historic stage to mark the end of restoration works. The theatre company was excited to accept congratulations from all corners of the country and even from the outer space.

Last December, the Maly Theatre invited The President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and selected guests to a grand opening of the restored historical stage - Sergey Zhenovach’s production of Griboedov's comedy «Woe from Wit». But Putin's previous visit to the theatre was cancelled because of the killing of the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov. The play itself was not cancelled, but it was agreed to have a real housewarming later on. The eve of the World Theatre Day seemed to be perfect occasion for that.

The President, however, decided to visit the theatre a few days earlier - he attended a performance of Alexander Ostrovsky’s play «The Last Sacrifice».

Before the concert you can feel the excitement in the auditorium – guests greet each other and share their impressions. The graduates of Mikhail Shchepkin Higher Theatre School, considered to be Maly Theatre’s alma mater, are among the special guests of the evening - Elena Liadova, Igor Petrenko, Natalya Kharakhorina, Yevgenia Dmitrieva. Their joy was shared by the Artistic Director of the Chekhov Moscow Art Theatre Oleg Tabakov with wife Marina Zudina, Artistic director of the Moscow Pushkin Drama Theatre Yevgeny Pisarev, Alexei Borodin, Artistic Director of the Russian Academic Youth Theatre (RAMT), and popular actors Vladimir Vdovichenkov, Sergei Puskepalis, the Vernik family and other guests.

The stage, decorated with historical posters, accommodated the whole theatre company - from the People's Artists of the USSR to the students of Shchepkin Higher Theatre School («Shchepka»). The gala concert was opened by the Empress Elizabeth of Russia (her role was performed by Lyudmila Polyakova), who decreed the establishment of the theatre.

The vibrant performance marked the most important dates and figures in the history of the theatre, all listed in chronological order - the playwright Ostrovsky appeared on the stage, later replaced by Gorky, Chekhov, Stanislavsky, Yablochkina, Tchaikovsky, whose premiere of the opera «Eugene Onegin» took place on this stage. Then the auditorium turned into a cinema with videos of the theatre’s productions being shown on the screen in the background of the stage. They featured all great artists of the past - Tsarev, Pashennaya, Ostuzheva, Turchaninova, Ryzhova, Zharov, Ilyinskiy, the departed idols - Babochkin, Pankova, Nifontova, Pavlov, Vesnik, Lyubeznov, Martsevich, Vitaly Solomin, and those who perished in the Great Patriotic War.

This stage is, perhaps, perhaps the only one in the country that faithfully preserves the traditions of a traditional Russian drama theatre. The repertoire of the theatre consists of the eternal classics, without footloose readings and wayward interpretations.

All stars of the Maly Theatre were on stage: Irina Muravieva, Boris Nevzorov, Boris Kluyev, Vyacheslav Ezepov, Vasiliy Bochkarev, Liliya Yudina, Sergei Tezov, Polina Dolinskaya, Viktor Nizovoy and, of course, the Artistic Director of the theatre Yuri Solomin.

The Maly Theatre received a lot of telegrams and accepted best wishes and congratulations on that special day. Cosmonauts Andrei Borisenko, Oleg Novitsky and Sergey Ryzhikov, aboard the International Space Station also greeted the artists. The audience on the festive evening was treated not only with a great performance, but also with a glass of vodka and pickled cucumbers – traditional Russian treats. And the Maly Theatre is known for adhering to its traditions.

Izvestia newspaper, March 28, 2017

For the Maly Theatre this day is a double celebration. After reconstruction, its main historic building was officially opened. The Maly Theatre reopened with a beautiful vibrant chronicle, a chronicle that captured legendary personalities, who left marks in the history of the theatre. The performance consisted of fragments of Maly’s greatest productions and feature the current theatre’s company.

«At the behest and now to establish a Russian language theatre for comedies and tragedies and for which to recruit actors and actresses in appropriate numbers.» This decree of empress Elisabeth of Russia marked the birth of the Russian professional theater. in 1756, Moscow University students formed the theatre troupe.

The gala concert is a colourful theatrical collage dedicated to the history of the Maly theatre and those figures, who stood at the origins of the theatre, their successors and apprentices.

On 1 October, the Maly Theatre started its 261st season. Works to renovate the main building started three and a half years ago and the main task was to preserve the original architectural appearance of the building.

«Nothing is touched here, the only thing, in this dressing room, where I've been sitting for 50 years, I did not know that there was a window. It was discovered during the reconstruction, we actually found some new windows and doors,» - says the People's Artist of the USSR, the Artistic Director of the Maly Theatre Yuri Solomin.

Of the new here - the compound got a unique system of cassette storage of stage settings and a new foyer.

All the leading figures of the Maly Theatre - Shchepkin and Mochalov, Babochkin, Solomin can be seen at a small exhibition in the new foyer. The historical thread - the connection between traditions and generations of the Maly Theatre –is theatre’s everything.

Olga Enina, «Russia – Culture»