Musical Comedy Theatre

Categories / Art/Music, Theatre/Theaters, Concert Organizations
MUSICAL COMEDY THEATRE (13 Italyanskaya Street). Created as a venue for the Leningrad and Kharkov operetta troupes, opening in 1929 with the operetta Kholopka (Bondmaid) by N.M. Strelnikov (conductor N. Spiridonov, director A.N. Feona). Initially, the troupes performed on the stage of the People's House on Petrogradskaya Side (later at the Velikan Cinema). Along with the classics (E. Kalman, J. Strauss, J. Offenbach), operettas by Soviet composers (The Golden Valley by I.O. Dunaevsky, The Wedding in Malinovka by B.A. Alexandrov) made up the majority of the repertoire. Directors who worked with the theatre included V.R. Rappaport, Feona, A.V. Wiener, S.E. Radlov, and E.I. Kaplan. Director V.G. Solovyev played an important role in the theatre's history. Performances were designed by N.P. Akimov, M.P. Bobyshov, N.E. Radlov. The first theatre company included B.M. Bronskaya, D.I. Gamalei, V.L. Legkov, A.A. Orlov, N.V. Pelzer, O.M. Shchigoleva, and N.Y. Yanet. From 1938, performances were given in the current building (former mansion, built in 1799-1802, architect E.T. Sokolov, reconstructed in 1842-46, 1892-96, and in 1910 as the Palace-Theatre). Its main Director was Y.O. Khmelnitsky, and main conductors M.P. Volovats and G.A. Doniyakh, among others. During the Siege of 1941-44, the Musical Comedy Theatre was the only theatre operating in Leningrad; in 1942, a premier was held of the operetta The Sea Has Stretched Wide by L.V. Kruts, N.G. Minkh and V.L. Vitlin. During the post-war years, the theatre concentrated on staging classics, and a search for a modern Soviet repertoire was launched (Black Locust by Dunaevsky,1956; Chanita's kiss by Y.S. Milyutin, 1957; Sevastopol Waltz K.Y. Listov, 1961). In the 1970s, experiments in the sphere of Russian musicals were undertaken under the guidance of the main director, V.E. Vorobyev, and main conductor, V.A. Rylov, resulting in The Marriage of Krechinsky, The Affair, and Truffaldino by A.N. Kolker, among others. From 1995, the Musical Comedy Theatre was headed by A.A. Belinsky, who oversaw the overhaul and renovation of theatre's building.

References: Ленинградский государственный театр музыкальной комедии. Л., 1972; Театр музыкальной комедии в годы блокады. Л., 1973.

E. V. Tretyakova. Akimov Nikolay Pavlovich
Alexandrov Boris Alexandrovich
Belinsky Alexander Arkadievich
Bobyshov Mikhail Pavlovich
Bronskaya B.M.
Doniyakh Georgy A.
Dunaevsky Isaak Osipovich
Feona Alexey Nikolaevich
Gamalei D.I.
Kalman Emmerich (Imre)
Kaplan Emmanuil Iosifovich
Khmelnitsky Yuly Osipovich
Kolker Alexander Naumovich A3570
Kruts Lev V.
Legkov V.P.
Listov Konstantin Yakovlevich
Milyutin Yury (Georgy) Sergeevich
Minkh Nikolay Grigorievich
Offenbach Jacques (real name Eberst Jakob)
Orlov Alexander Alexandrovich
Pelzer Nina Vasilievna
Radlov Nikolay Ernestovich
Radlov Sergey Ernestovich
Rappaport V.R.
Rylov V.A.
Shchigoleva Olga M.
Sokolov Egor Timofeevich
Solovyev V.G.
Spiridonov N.
Strauss Johann
Strelnikov Nikolay Mikhailovich
Vitlin Viktor Lvovich
Volovats Mikhail Petrovich
Vorobyev Vladimir Egorovich
Wiener A.V.
Wiener Alexander Borisovich
Yanet Nikolay Yakovlevich
Italyanskaya Street/Saint Petersburg, city, house 13
Театр музыкальной комедии в годы блокады. Л., 1973
Ленинградский государственный театр музыкальной комедии. Л., 1972