“The light has left the theater”: in Moscow they said goodbye to Vera Vasilyeva

Rain since morning. There are rare passers-by on Tverskaya. But at the Theater of Satire, which is right around the corner from it, people with flowers gather. Not with lush bouquets and baskets, but in terms of prosperity – it is different for everyone. At 11.00 people in uniform began to launch the audience, who came to the last performance of Vera Vasilyeva. Mournful.

The white coffin is already on stage. To the right of him are the rows occupied by the closest people of the actress. And from those close to Vera Kuzminichna, honestly, there was no one left – she outlived her brother, husband, the beautiful Vladimir Ushakov, her lover in that very play “Wedding with a Dowry”, all her peers.

To the left, in the depths, is a small violin composition: the theater has its own orchestra, which, alas, is now not as active in the repertoire as in previous years. All the time that there will be a civil memorial service, violinists in long black dresses will play not only mourning music appropriate for the occasion, but also the one that Vera loved – beautiful: from Frank Sinatra and someone else.

Behind the scenes, I am the first to meet Alexander Oleshko. He began his career in Satire, although he did not work for long. He was friends with Vera Kuzminichnaya and, remembering her signature song “On the Porch Together,” he says: “So we were left alone on the porch.”

“Verochka lies beautiful, as she was in life,” everyone who managed to approach the coffin, bow and say the last “forgive me” says to her. Indeed, it seems that Vera just fell asleep and death did not touch her lovely features.

“She lived right, that’s why she is beautiful,” says the actor, singer Boris Lvovich. He was the artist’s neighbor in the house on Bolshoi Vlasevsky Lane. – Amazing person Vera. How much I live and work, I have not heard a single bad word from anyone about her. When she met me at the entrance, she asked: “Borechka, repeat your joke.” What’s the joke? Once, when I met her at the garbage chute, I said: “Vera Kuzminichna, we are more than relatives. We have a common garbage chute with you. She laughed so hard.

Parterre of Satire – and this is almost a thousand seats – is almost full. It turns out that not only the older generation, who grew up on her few (but what !!!) films or numerous performances, came, but there are young people too. And there are also stray ones: a couple of tipsy men of indeterminate age landed next to me. One even got a dry bream, spreading the smell of salted fish around him, but they poked at him, and they quieted down.

The memorial service is led by actor Yuri Vasiliev.

“She has many regalia, but her most important title is “Actress of Honor and Dignity,” he says. – It seems that age is serious, and everything is clear, but it does not leave a feeling – the light has left the theater, which warmed us and protected us. We so hoped that she would celebrate the 100th anniversary of the theater with us, but God decreed so.

On the screen are excerpts from her performances. This is better than speeches with the usual set for the occasion. Vera is a countess, Vera is someone’s mother, Vera is a queen and a fatal lady. On the screen, Vera bows – so alive, in a beautiful dress …

And only after that Alexander Shirvindt enters the stage.

“Verochka, Verochka, beloved Verochka…” he repeats, somehow bewildered. Doesn’t look like himself. – More than 60 years next to each other. This, of course, is the deadline. He often stops in his speech. – When they say banal words of a dirge quality “epoch, great and so on”, this is all wonderful, but not always 100 percent. The portrait of Yermolova, if you remember, is beautiful in its own way, I think it should be replaced with a portrait of Verochka. The fact is that the standard is extremely rare in all areas. Verochka was such a standard. I cheated on her on this stage so many times. Fortunately, life failed.

I catch myself saying that the atmosphere at parting is not at all heavy, aggravated by the feeling of loss and speeches, but somehow light, unhurried. No matter how scary it sounds – benevolent, or something. Like Vera herself, who lived without pretending in the difficult world of art, where in pursuit of success people often do not live, but survive – themselves or each other. But she was different. Was or self-educated? Secret.

Of all the telegrams, one is read out – from the president of the country. On stage, the sovereign’s man, who never caught the main disease of bureaucracy – formalism and the fear of losing his chair under the fifth point, Mikhail Shvydkoy. And his words are therefore informal:

– At the age of 25, getting the Stalin Prize and then proving all your life that it was not accidental is not easy. She was a charming slut. And now this simpleton has become an absolute aristocrat. Everyone was extremely surprised when Pluchek offered her the role of the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro. And this role changed this image of a simpleton and her fate.

Maxim Averin:

“You have to earn a life where people don’t spit in the back, but smile. Here Vera Kuzminichna lived like this, managing not to participate in intrigues, to be a woman to the end. Secret.

Performers are Sergei Gazarov, the current artistic director of Satire, the Minister of Culture of Moscow Alexander Kibovsky, actresses Natalya Karpunina and Alena Yakovleva, from the Mayakovsky Theater – Alexander Ravenskikh, the daughter of the same Boris Ravenskikh who staged “Wedding with a Dowry” and whom Verochka loved all her life.

“The mystery of her talent cannot be solved,” she says. – And the secret of the performance of half a century ago “Wedding with a dowry” too. It’s probably love. Her loyalty, her devotion to the director.

Incredible Dasha Miloslavskaya, named daughter of the actress. Yes, you don’t often meet relatives like her. Everyone treats her as if they were their own. Dasha thanks everyone and in the forefront of those who always lent her shoulder – Shirvindt, her friends and the unique doctor Tatyana Artemova. “If it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t have had the last ten years.” And most importantly – the audience for whom she lived, says Dasha.

The end of the farewell turned out to be incredible – it is not known by itself or someone built it this way. But an elderly, but rather slender and elegantly dressed lady came out to the microphone.

“Actress Irina Kostrova,” the presenter introduced.

It turned out that she had studied with Vasilyeva at the theater since 1942. She has both become and a straight back, like Verochka’s. In a loud voice I read a poem by Yevtushenko that people are worlds that are leaving us. How were they then made like that – beautiful centenarians? Another mystery. And the host announced that Kostrova was actually 100 years old, and then the audience quietly gasped and applauded, despite the inappropriate applause.

The last “forgive” loved ones at the coffin. Finally, the lid with snow-white satin bubbled along the edges is closed from the inside, the coffin is carried from the stage to the foyer. And now he is already floating on his hands a short distance from the main entrance to the theater to the black ritual minibus of the Mercedes brand. Long, long, long applause, and someone’s male voice “bravo!”.