Published on: 2026-10-10
Source: Moscow Government – Правительства Москвы –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Spotlights, applause, curtain. But what happens when the hall empties? Where do the decorations live, who turns on the light, and what does the stage look like when the audience is not watching it? This autumn Estrada Theater, Lenkom of Mark Zakharov, “Sovremennik” and “Vedogon-Theatre” They open behind the scenes and allow access to places previously accessible only to stage performers.
Autumn Premiere: Behind the Scenes of the Musical “Boston Waltz”
When thinking about theatrical art, an association arises: the theater is arranged like an iceberg. The audience sees a small part — the performance. Everything hidden from view — rehearsals, set assembly, costume rooms, makeup rooms, control panels, and mechanisms — remains behind the curtain. On a tour of the Variety Theater, you will witness how a production is born. And, more importantly, you will begin to understand: the magic on stage is not only a miracle, but also the result of precise and coordinated work of many people.
On the tour dedicated to the musical “Waltz Boston,” the audience is shown what remains behind the scenes. It is led by the actors playing Camille — the same ones who could be seen on stage just minutes ago. After the final bow, the performance continues: guests step onto the stage, find themselves among the sets, and see the familiar scenes through the eyes of the performers. Here, you can take a photo in one of the most atmospheric mise-en-scènes — amidst the falling leaves that occur right during the action.
The technical side is also revealed to the participants of the tour. The performers talk about how the play was created: about transforming an empty stage into the streets of Rostov, assembling an orchestra of 15 musicians and more than 100 instruments, the multi-stage casting process, and how many people work simultaneously to bring this world to life anew every evening. Episodes that last only a few seconds in the play can be slowed down and examined in detail during the tour.
Another feature is the opportunity to talk to the artist immediately after the performance. For the actors, every evening turns out a little differently, so the tour does not become a rehearsed story. It is a live conversation about a specific show: you can ask questions about the characters, scenes, music, or about what was happening backstage while they were sitting in the audience.
There is also interest in the production from foreign guests. Organized groups of English-speaking and Chinese tourists already attend the “Boston Waltz” — for them, the theater provides screens with subtitles, making it easy to follow the plot and understand what is happening on stage.
“‘Waltz-Boston’ is interesting not only as a story told on stage, but also as a large-scale theatrical project in which many details remain unnoticed from the audience’s perspective. The uniqueness of this format is that the viewer literally finds themselves inside the performance they have just seen. We go on stage, show the scenery and backstage, tell how ‘Waltz-Boston’ was created. And for us, the actors, it is also a very lively format: after the performance, you can immediately meet the audience, hear their emotions, and share your own,” says actor Anton Anosov.
Tickets for the tour can be purchased through the service Mosbilet.
Mark Zakharov’s Lenkom: memory as part of the backstage
The tour of the “Lenkom Mark Zakharov” theater begins long before you cross the threshold. Already approaching the building on Malaya Dmitrovka, it becomes clear: this is not just a theater, but an architectural monument. The facade with Ionic columns with volutes on the capitals, turrets, stucco mascarons (relief depictions of faces and heads) — all of this was created in 1907–1909 by architect Illarion Ivanov-Shitz in the Art Nouveau style with elements of neoclassicism. The architect won a competition among more than 40 participants, offering the most economical and at the same time slender and beautiful project.
The house was built for the Moscow Merchants’ Assembly — an elite club where merchants and representatives of well-known families met: princes Volkonsky, Apraksin, Trubetskoy, as well as artists, painters, and writers. Balls, concerts, and literary evenings were held here. After the revolution, the building changed several owners: it housed the political club “House of Anarchy,” the Sverdlov Communist University, and a cinema. In 1932, the Theater of Working Youth (TRAM) moved in, which in 1938 became the Lenin Komsomol Theater, and in 1990 — Lenkom.
On the tour, history is traced in the very space itself. You walk through the same halls where people once danced at balls, see the stucco and columns that remember the merchant assembly. And then you get into the backstage area, where the memory of the past continues in theatrical scenery.
A series of tours dedicated to theater legends is taking place at Lenkom. The program features stories about Yevgeny Leonov and his creative partnership with Mark Zakharov, about Inna Churikova and her half-century on stage, about Zakharov himself, who led the theater for 46 years and 81 days, about Nikolai Karachentsov, whose theatrical journey began in 1967, as well as about Alexander Abdulov, Tatyana Peltzer, Leonid Bronevoy, and other actors and playwrights. They also talk, of course, about legendary performances. Guests are shown Inna Churikova’s memorial dressing room, where they can see her personal belongings, souvenirs, photographs, and her costumes from the plays “The Seagull,” “The Aquitaine Lioness,” and “A Lie to Save.”
One of the key points of the route is the memorial office of Mark Zakharov with his personal belongings, books, and posters. Despite its memorial status, the office continues to function: meetings and creative councils are still held there. Tickets can be purchased through the service “Mosbilet”.
“Sovremennik”: a journey through time
If Lenkom presents the theater through the prism of memory, then Sovremennik offers a different perspective on the space. Here, the emphasis of the tour shifts to the living process: who created the theater, which productions are currently in the repertoire, and how they surprise the audience today.
The theater offers a tour that allows you to see it from the inside and touch the past. It is called “Journey Through Time” — a dive into the life of “Sovremennik” through the history of the building, legendary productions, and names that defined an era.
The tour begins in the foyer. Today’s “Sovremennik” occupies the premises of the “Coliseum” cinema, one of the first Moscow electrocinemas, built between 1912 and 1914. Silent films were shown here, and the space still holds the memory of that time. On the Other Stage, black-and-white frames bring to life the films that once screened at the “Coliseum.” Visitors learn how this place is connected to Sergei Eisenstein and Maxim Gorky, and see an unexpected artifact—a fragment of the 16th-century White City wall, found during reconstruction. This authentic piece of ancient Moscow is unexpectedly discovered in the modern theatrical space and becomes a bridge between centuries.
You can buy tickets in the service “Mosbilet”.
“Vedogon-Theater”: backstage as a game
“Vedogon-Theater” is also opening its doors — and doing so in its own way. The theater offers two types of tours. For adults and teenagers over 12 years old — a program “Theater in Details”: a walk through secret corridors and service staircases, an opportunity to peek into the costume and makeup workshops, rehearsal rooms, and backstage areas. In an hour and a half, participants learn about rare theatrical professions, audience etiquette, and about who, besides actors, is behind the creation of a play. The tours are conducted by actresses Natalia Timonina, Olga Lvova, and Zoya Danilovskaya.
For children aged six to 11 years — program “The Path of Creativity” with elements of a quest. Its invisible hero is Vedogon — in ancient Slavic mythology, a guardian spirit who protects a person and their home. Young viewers encounter his pranks and undergo trials. Together with guide-actors, the children complete creative tasks, decipher codes, and collect marks from the spirit while traveling through the theater’s nooks and crannies. Duration — one hour.
“Mosbilet” — the official service on the mos.ru portal, through which you can purchase tickets to theaters, museums, concert halls, and other institutions without commission or markups. The service page features announcements of the most anticipated events, season premieres, activities within city festivals, exhibitions, performances, and concerts that will take place in the upcoming weekend.
You can purchase a ticket directly through the service. For events requiring personal data to buy a ticket, entering the visitor’s last name, first name, patronymic, and information will not be necessary: if the user has a standard or full account, it is sufficient to leave the default document selection field set to Mos ID. Mandatory fields must be filled in manually if the account is simplified. When booking tickets for young guests through the service, all data should be entered only by the accompanying adult. For children under 14 years old, only the last name, first name, patronymic, and date of birth can be indicated, and showing the child’s document is not required when attending cultural events.
In addition, authorized users will be able to open ticket QR codes in the mobile applications “My Moscow”, “My id”, and “Moscow State Services”.
Looking for ideas of where to go in Moscow, and follow interesting events on the “Mosbilet” channels on “Makse” and “Telegram”.
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