An “import-substituted” theater award was presented in Moscow

Seven Crystal Princesses

On December 19, at the Galina Vishnevskaya Opera Center, the winners of the Crystal Turandot theater award were awarded for the 31st time. For obvious reasons, this year the prizes were awarded only in one category – “For honor, dignity and service to the audience”, but the award itself became “import-substituted”. The correspondent and photojournalist of MK visited the bright event – they saw everything with their own eyes.

Restrained chic – this phrase can describe the event that took place in the Center on Ostozhenka. Smiling waiters carrying glasses of champagne began to greet guests half an hour before the start of the ceremony. It immediately became clear that the number of stars per square meter of area would be off scale. One of the first we noticed was Clara Novikova, then Galina Tyunina, Viktor Rakov, Vladimir Simonov and Evgeny Redko got into the camera lenses. And the author of these lines generally managed to “look through” Kirill Pirogov, noticing only at the locker room, where the canonical on-screen bandit, the star of the films “War”, “Brother-2” and “Sisters”, calmly stood in line. And this we list only the stars-spectators.

And if we talk about the winners, then the awards were received by the artistic director of RAMT Alexei Borodin, the general director of the Bolshoi Theater Vladimir Urin, the general director of the Moscow Operetta Theater Vladimir Tartakovsky, the actor, People’s Artist of the Russian Federation Valery Barinov (“Courtship of a Hussar”, “Driver for Vera”, “Saboteur”, “Kadetstvo”), People’s Artist of Belarus Vladimir Gostyukhin (partner of Vladislav Galkin in “Truckers”, performer of other brilliant roles), director of the Taganka Theater and the theater “Commonwealth of Taganka Actors” Irina Apeksimova, artistic director of the Theater of Satire Sergei Gazarov and artistic director of the Theater of Growth in Tsaritsyn Nonna Grishaeva.

The hall warmly greeted everyone who was invited to the stage to present a crystal figurine, made, by the way, by craftsmen from the city of Gus-Khrustalny after the defiant refusal of the Czechs and Lithuanians.

But it seemed to us that Gostyukhin was especially honored: thanks to him, Crystal Turandot became an international award for the first time. And Vladimir Vasilyevich, who turned 76 this year, said, barely holding back tears:

– It’s easier to go on stage, to go to the set than it is now here. I’m shaking! What a strange time right now. From here I’m going to receive another award. It feels like they are trying to…

But no less sincere were Barinov and Borodin, who devoted forty years to the youth theater and admitted that the second person whose merit is in this prize is his wife. Life partners, by the way, were mentioned twice by the winners. First Borodin, and then Tartakovsky, who thanked his wife for letting him go to the theater 48 years ago, despite warnings that it was “very dangerous for the newlywed.”

The size of the newspaper page does not allow quoting all the speeches, but a lot of what was said is very valuable words.

Let us separately mention the musical pauses that interspersed the ceremony. In honor of Tartakovsky, Maxim Dunayevsky sat down to play the part at the piano; in honor of Valery Barinov, the famous singer Nina Shatskaya performed a song in the tango style. All these components together made the evening a real celebration of art.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 28937 dated December 21, 2022

Newspaper headline:
Seven Crystal Princesses