K.S. Stanislavsky Theatre Museum

The collection of the museum was formed from the beginning of the 1920s, when the Opera Studio of K.S. Stanislavsky, which originally arose at the Bolshoi Theatre, and the Music Studio of Vl.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko were formed. Since 1926, both theater groups worked in the same room on Bolshaya Dmitrovka Street, 17. K.S. Stanislavsky and V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko became classics during their lifetime, and everything that was associated with them was carefully preserved. Survived documents, sketches, layouts, production plans, libretto, programs, posters, photos and negatives. Of particular interest in the museum collection are the works of outstanding theater artists V. Simov, V. Dmitriev, N. Ulyanov, P. Williams, I. Rabinovich, N. Shifrin, B. Erdman, B. Erbstein, as well as rare exhibits, for example, glass negatives of famous photographers M. Sakharov and B. Fabisovich. The technique available at that time did not allow taking pictures during the performance, so staged shots were created: artists in specially exhibited scenery reproduced key mise-en-scene, fixing emotions and for some time freezing still. Documentary filming of performances became widespread only in the 1940s and at first was extremely imperfect. After the merger of the troupes of K. Stanislavsky and V. Nemirovich-Danchenko, which occurred in 1941, their museum collections were merged. During the war, the troupe did not leave for evacuation and gave performances in the capital, as well as as as part of concert brigades at the front and in hospitals. In the museum collection there are piercing shots taken in sponsored divisions during performances and at the funeral of artists who died under fire. Many documents received by the museum in the 1950s-1970s are valuable both from a historical and artistic point of view: these are magnificent photographs of ballets by V. Burmeister, D. Bryantsev, materials on the tour of the troupe in China in 1953-1954, sketches by A. Lushin, I. Sumbatashvili, V. Dorrer, V. Leventhal, photographs of productions by opera directors L. Baratov and L. Mikhailov and famous conductors S. Samosud, B. Haikin, D. China, E. Kolobov. In the second half of the 1990s, after A. Titel and D. Bryantsev became artistic directors of the theater, exhibitions on portable stands began to be arranged in the foyer, and in 2006, after the reconstruction of the historical building of the theater, five halls of the museum with a permanent exhibition opened in the lobby. It combines different time layers: next to it are portraits of performers of the same role, but belonging to different generations, photographs of productions of the same work, carried out in different historical periods. The showcases present materials that convey the spirit and mood of the era, the appearance of the theater in different years. Exhibitions organized by the museum are divided into two types: stock, dedicated to the anniversaries of artists and performances, and imported. The latter significantly expand the context of perception of permanent exhibitions, stock exhibitions, and even performances of the Musical Theatre, placing them in the global theatrical and musical context. In addition, the Theatre Museum provides materials for exhibitions in Russian cities and abroad. In the 2018/2019 season, the Music Theatre celebrated its centenary. By the significant date, a number of exhibitions were held on Strastny Boulevard: “Musical Theater. Origins”, “Artists of Musical Theater”, as well as a personal exhibition of the main artist of the theater Vladimir Anatolyevich Arefiev, whose 70th anniversary coincided with the centenary of the theater.