In 2011, the reconstruction of the Variety Theater was completed in St. Petersburg. The layout of the hall with seats has not changed significantly, but the interior has become completely different - now it recalls the times when in the XIX-XX centuries. under the glass vault, guests were treated to the chic Bear restaurant. Now cast-iron columns and supporting rafters have found their original form, and the curved ceiling with changing lighting is similar to the previous one.
Amazing story
The whole Petersburg elite gathered in the Medved: many famous personalities visited here, often Chaliapin and Komissarzhevskaya came to visit here. At the end of the hall there were already stages: every evening there were artists of the cabaret, fashionable in those days.
The past hall of the Variety Theater named after Arkady Raikin is amazing. In a strange way, the fate of this historic building is to always remain visible and respectable, to accept celebrities and talents. Before the glazed room became a restaurant, it was the courtyard of the "Demutov Tavern" - the best hotel in St. Petersburg. Pushkin wrote “Poltava” in her rooms, Griboedov, barely having finished the comedy, read to his friends “Woe from Wit”, Turgenev, Chaadaev, Batyushkov, Pestel stopped.
But the magnificent stone building where the Demutov Tavern was located was erected in the seventies of the 18th century. Before, at about the same place, in 1723, at the behest of Peter the Great, a wooden house was built: a spectacular institution for the townspeople. In fact, it was the first theater in St. Petersburg.
State Theater
In 1939, after a number of government agencies that were here, the building was converted into the first Soviet pop theater. The layout of the hall with seats was simple: between the massive stands in which the picturesque cast columns were hidden, rows of spectator seats were placed in front of the small stage. Then the glass vault was covered with solid iron.
The theater turned into a legend of Russian pop music, and the building still hosted celebrities and talents. Utesov, Vertinsky, Shulzhenko, Ruslanova and Pakhomenko sang here. The numbers were announced by Arkady Raikin, masterfully mastering the art of the conference. Since 1942, he headed the Variety and Miniature Theater as an artistic director and has been in this position for 40 years. He led through the theater many different genres of artists whom the whole country knew and loved.
Last changes
Without cardinal transformations, but the interior decoration of the Variety Theater was regularly updated. The layout of the hall with seats and stages remained the same. The latest reconstruction returned to the interior of the building the historical appearance of restrained luxury and respectability, with which a complex visualization system is harmoniously combined.
Enthusiastic spectators are fascinated by a glass arch that changes color lighting depending on the action on the stage. But that is far from all. New equipment allows you to translate into reality the complex theatrical effects, which are famous for many famous world stages.
The halls, the lobby and the stage were transformed. The layout of the hall with the seats of the Variety Theater did not undergo any special changes, but the room was literally reborn! With all the interior and technical changes, the auditorium remained comfortable and cozy. And most importantly, he, as always, pleases with meetings with his favorite artists.