"- a pre-revolutionary theater of miniatures, one of the very first and best chamber theaters in Russia, which arose from the parody and comic performances of the actors of the Moscow Art Theater under the direction of Nikita Baliyev.
Initially, "The Bat" was conceived as an intimate artistic circle of artists of the Moscow Art Theater and their friends - the community of actors of the Moscow Art Theater.
Theatrical enterprises should focus on the audience and sell tickets, otherwise they will go bankrupt. But the actors of the Moscow Art Theater wanted to hide from prying eyes in a cozy place where you can come after the performance and relax from academic theatrical traditions and the outside world. The creation of this kind of club became a necessity for acting solitude, where in a narrow circle it was possible to analyze performances and, with gentle irony, compose a couple of sketches about your favorite theater.
The idea of creating an acting club was not designed for the public, but for its complete absence. Actually, the public should not see their theatrical heroes in everyday life.
The "closed" club included actors from the Art Theater: Olga Leonardovna Knipper-Chekhova, Vasily Ivanovich Kachalov, Ivan Mikhailovich Moskvin, Georgy Sergeevich Burdzhalov and Alisa Koonen.
The charter of the circle "Bat" was submitted for registration to the city's presence, which was later reported by the newspaper "Russian Word".
Such charter was signed by Nikita Baliev, Nikolai Tarasov and Vasily Kachalov. 25 actors became co-founders, and another 15 members of the club were proposed to be elected by voting. But this plan "failed". It was the closeness that attracted attention, as soon as Baliyev announced that “it would be a club of the Art Theater, inaccessible to others, and it would be insanely difficult to become a member of it,” soon “completely extraneous elements poured in” and the “supposed” intimacy of the theater was destroyed . The basement was filled with bohemian musicians, artists, writers and regulars in Moscow theaters.
“When it became clear that there was a need for a special hall for young people, a basement was attached, in which at one time a circle of artists of the Moscow Art Theater called “The Bat” was located, arranging their closed intimate meetings at night after the end of the performances. The soul of these meetings was N. F. Baliev, who later organized his own troupe for public performances of The Bat, which soon became so popular in Moscow. For the arrangement of the dance hall, the room was deepened by me by arshin and oak parquet was laid for asphalt preparation. ”The owner of the house later recalled”
On February 29, 1908, Baliev and Tarasov went down to the dimly lit basement of Pertsov's house (opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Savior). A bat fluttered towards them. This is how the name of the theater was born, and the bat became its emblem, parodying the Moscow Art Theater seagull on the curtain.
Thus, there was a need for the birth of a theater club, and the prospect of its development was revealed later. The creators of the theater did not even think about it.
In the theater of miniatures, the time of action is calculated in minutes, not hours, and in his ten-year biography, Nikolai Efimovich Efros brought to our days the history of the evolution of the chamber theater "The Bat" from the moment the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating an acting club in 1908 to its heyday, when it became artistic and theatrical attraction of the city choked in revolutionary chaos.
“The Art Theater is the most serious theatre, with heroic tension, in the seething of creative forces, resolving the most complex stage problems. But the actors of this theater have a great love for humor, a great taste for jokes. They have always loved laughter. The Bat should give a way out for this, these are the moods, thoughts and goals with which N. F. Baliyev and N. L. Tarasov, grouping their comrades in the theater around themselves, rented a basement and hung a bat from its gray vaulted ceiling. A place of rest for people is the realm of a free, but beautiful joke, and away from the outside public.
Wrote N. E. Efros in the biography of the theater, published for its tenth anniversary, 1918.
The condensed eclectic forms of "little art" were especially close to Tarasov's aesthetic taste. A brilliantly educated co-owner of oil fields and a cotton factory in Armavir, he was an aristocrat in spirit, and Tarasov was a poet in his soul. He loved brightly lit halls, in which he certainly chose a dark corner for himself. He loved the war of witticisms, but he himself was stingy with words. This young man simultaneously combined sarcasm, tenderness and sadness, piquancy and understatement. But, he could not know the joy of life and appreciate the generosity of all these gifts. Tarasov could easily sketch couplets and put together a "song on the topic of the day" or a sharp epigram. He composed a well-aimed parody of the production of "Mary Stuart" at the Maly Theater and was the author of buffoonery about the great Napoleon and his missing chauffeur. The comic miniature, in which the audience was deftly fooled, was called "The Scandal with Napoleon, or an unknown episode that happened to Napoleon in Moscow." Napoleon was cold, he wanted to leave and asked: - Where is my driver? They shouted from the hall: - Under Napoleon there were no cars!
Having realized his dream of owning his own theatre, Nikita Baliyev turned the actor's cabaret, the intimate club of the Moscow Art Theater actors, into a public commercial theater, at the same time preserving the atmosphere of the former haven of artistic bohemia. Performances began to attend Konstantin Sergeevich Stanislavsky. Baliyev was a shareholder of the Art Theater and secretary of Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko. In theatrical performances, he created several juicy images: the Bull and Bread in M. Maeterlinck's "The Blue Bird", Rosen in A. Pushkin's "Boris Godunov", the Man's Guest in the play "The Life of a Man" by L. Andreev. He was very artistic, but for his acting type there were not many roles in the repertoire of the academic theater.
The leading actors of the theater were V.A. Podgorny and B.S. Borisov (Gurovich), as well as Y.M. Volkov, K. I. Kareev, A.N. Salama, G.S. , Doronin (1911/14).
The actresses of the theater were N. A. Khotkevich, A. K. Fekhtner, E. A. Khovanskaya, V. V. Barsova, E. A. Tumanova, Rezler, E. A. Marsheva (Karpova), T. Kh. N. V. Meskhiev-Kareeva (Alekseeva), Heinz, Vasilenko
A month and a half later, in April 1908, the water level in the Moscow River rose, and the water overflowed its banks. In some of the lowest places in the city center, all the cellars were flooded with water.
“Two or three warm days in a row and several rains at once so unanimously promoted the melting of snow and loosened the ice that the rapid and high-water flood of the Moskva River was already beyond doubt”
After the flood, the cozy basement of Pertsov's house had to be restored, and Baliyev's troupe resumed their performances.
“The bat lasted one and a half short theatrical seasons in its original premises, having experienced devastation in the spring from the raging waters of the Moskva River”
For the second season, the theater began its performances at 21:30 in the evening.
The official opening of the "basement" took place on October 18, 1908, a parody of the premiere (October 13, 1908) performance of the Moscow Art Theater "The Blue Bird", in which Konstantin Sergeevich Stanislavsky and Nemerovich-Danchenko were looking for this bird. The theater was ready to receive 60 guests, as announced by the Russian Word newspaper:
"Intimate" zucchini "friends of the art theater opens on Sunday." - "Russian word"
I must say that the performance of the Art Theater itself was a huge success. For a whole century, the legendary performance did not leave the stage and was shown at least four and a half thousand times. The right of the first use of the fairy tale was granted by the author to Stanislavsky; the design of the performance had a complex lighting score.
In April 1909, the Moscow Art Theater "The Blue Bird" was seen by the St. Petersburg public on the stage of the Mikhailovsky Theater.
“The theater had a festive look. Each picture of Maeterlinck's fairy tale was accompanied by applause. "Land of Memories" and "The Kingdom of the Future" exceeded all expectations and were recognized by the most strict theatergoers as the height of stage skill and art" - "Moskovskiya Vesti"
On January 14, 1909, the theater hosted a celebration of the founder of the "Mouse" Baliyev. Ms. Jan-Ruban and Mr. Kamionsky sang in the joke-parody program, Ms. Balashova danced, and Mr. Lebedev narrated skits.
The Bat celebrated its anniversary in one year on March 19, 1909, simultaneously with the 20th anniversary of the stage anniversary of Alexander Leonidovich Vishnevsky. Nikita Baliev divided the history of the theater into "antediluvian" and "post-flood" periods. Among the guests were V.A. Serov, N.A. Andreev and A.V. Sobinov, who was escorted to Buenos Aires the next day.
One of the "trees" arranged in the cabaret "The Bat" on December 23, 1909, was remembered by the guests for a long time. The program of the evening included The Inspector General, performed by a troupe of puppets, and gifts were distributed for three hours, and the holiday ended by seven in the morning.
On the night of February 9-10, 1910, the theater gave its first paid performance. The first paid performance was for the benefit of theater artists in need. Since that time, "The Bat" has become a night cabaret theater for a paid public. The repertoire of the theater included parodies, miniatures, various divertissements.
On the night of November 5-6, 1910, an evening was held with the performance of Tarasov's parody of the performance of the Maly Theater "Mary Stuart". Alexander Ivanovich Yuzhin, Vladimir Ivanovich Nemerovich-Danchenko and Felor Chaliapin in the costume of Mephistopheles took part in the staging of The Brothers Karamazov. A quartet joined the action: Leonid Sobinov, Sergey Volgin, V.A. Lossky and Petrov. I read stories by V.F. Lebedev.
On a gloomy Sunday afternoon, November 13, 1910, Nikolai Tarasov relieved himself of the burden of unending longing with a shot in the chest.
“Tarasov is a graceful young man with velvety eyes on a beautiful matte face. He had a delicate taste and a happy appearance. Fate was extremely merciful and generous to him. But Tarasov carried in himself a thirst for the joy of life, but he could never quench it, he could not experience it.
N. E. Efros
The performance at the Art Theater was cancelled.
After the death in 1910 of Nikolai Tarasov, who funded The Bat, the theater had to earn its own money.
On March 20, 1911, Humperdinck's opera was shown, translated and staged by Nikolai Zvantsev. The night was full of fun. Still lifes by Vladimir Tezavrovsky were presented at the vernissage: Baliyev in the form of a watermelon, Mardzhanov in the form of a pineapple, Leonidov is represented by a melon. Sobinov painted a picture with mustard and soybeans. "Cranberry Revolution" - written by Lebedev.
Since 1912, The Bat has become a theater of miniatures with a large program every evening, consisting of caricatures, dramatizations of songs, romances, theatrical aphorisms by Kozma Prutkov, miniatures by T.L. Lermontov, Ivan Turgenev, Anton Chekhov, Guy de Maupassant. Excerpts from the works of Mozart, Dargomyzhsky, Borodin, Tchaikovsky were performed. The performances were brilliantly commented on by the witty "owner of the evening" Baliyev, who conversed resourcefully with the audience and harmlessly touched on the "topics of the day."
In August 1912, Baliyev presented a version of the play "Peer Gynt", the program of which read: "A dramatic and musical poem in 36 scenes, of which, due to the difficulty of staging, only ten were made, the rest either did not pass censorship, or were already staged in the Artistic theater ”, and among the episodes of the production were the titles“ At the trolls ”and“ In a madhouse ”.
One of the cabaret parodies was titled "Review of the Theatres: The Biggest Failures of the Recently Started Season." This was followed by a caustic parody of the play by Leonid Andreev "Ekaterina Ivanovna" and a parody of "Sorochinskaya Elena" - on the premieres of the Free Theater "Sorochinskaya Fair", staged by K. Mardzhanov and "Beautiful Elena", staged by A. Tairov, 1913.
Over time, aestheticism, the desire for refined sophistication, began to manifest itself more and more in the theater programs.
In 1913, the architect F.O. Shekhtel designed the building of the Scientific Electrotheatre in Kamergerovsky Lane, which provided premises for the Bat. However, the project was not implemented.
The walls of the cabaret theater were hung with caricatures and caricatures on the theatrical themes. Above the entrance to the theater hung the inscription “Everyone is considered to be familiar with each other”, and the welcome guests of the “Bat” could sign in the famous book next to the autographs of K.S. Stanislavsky himself, V.S. Kachalov, O.L. Knipper-Chekhova, Rachmaninoff and Isadora Duncan. "Near theatrical audience" immediately fell into the thick of the backstage life full of events. As if entering the theater from the service entrance, the viewer made an exciting journey into the world of theatrical scenes, feeling intimately involved in the artistic sphere.
Performances at the Bat started at 11:30 p.m. The spectators sat down in their places, the lights were extinguished, and the actors were stealthily heading to the stage from the stalls. Dressed in black hoodies fluttering like bat wings, they, in time with the flickering of red lights, sang in a whisper: “The mouse is my flying animal, the mouse is light as a breeze.” Already involved in the process, the public felt on an “equal footing” with famous artists. The improvisations of Vera Nikolaevna Pashennaya, Nikolai Fedorovich Monakhov and even Marie Petipa, who “accidentally” found themselves in the basement of the Bat, were actually thought out and even paid for by Baliev. Thus, a complete fusion of the auditorium and the stage was achieved. Bohemia consisted of merchants, respectable officials and a prosperous intelligentsia, who played "artists" and "actors".
The enterprise switched to a commercial basis, money poured into the budget like a river. Tickets were sold, performances were announced, reviews were published in newspapers and magazines. From that moment on, the atmosphere of the variety show disappeared, there were no tables, the clink of glasses and the rattle of knives on plates disappeared; and "The Bat" was transformed into a theater. The entrance fee, in those days, was high, expensive champagne was given in the buffet. Baliyev's entreprise turned out to be very successful, and soon the capital of the "Bat" society amounted to 100,000 rubles. Thanks to the large number of fans of the cabaret theater and the success of the performances, in 1915 "The Bat" moved to a specially adapted theater with a functional stage, an auditorium and a buffet . The performances were played in the basement of apartment building No. 10 on Bolshoy Gnezdnikovsky Lane, called the "First House of Nionese", which at that time seemed like a skyscraper.
Kasyan Yaroslavovich Goleizovsky embodied his creative ideas for ballet performances at the cabaret theater "The Bat" by presenting divertissement departments. The first production on the new stage was the comic opera "Count Nulin" to the music of Alexei Arkhangelsky. It was followed by the original production of The Queen of Spades, designed in a minimalist style of symbolism: a card table, light on silk from a lonely candelabra, then a mourning candle, a piece of heavy brocade and “fantasy completed the hearse and a magnificent coffin”; instead of a ball - shadows, silhouettes waltzing outside the window, powdered with snow.
The repertoire included operettas and vaudevilles. "Song of Fortunio" to music by J. Offenbach (20-minute miniature, 1918); "Italian salad"; “About hetaera Melitis” (stylized mystery play, 1919); "Lev Gurych Sinichkin" - vaudeville by D.T. Lensky; “What happened to the heroes of The Inspector General the day after Khlestakov's departure” (parody number); "Wedding by Lanterns" (1919); "The Duck with Three Noses" (three-act operetta by E. Jonas, (1920).
But time gave rise to "a mood of nostalgic sadness for the passing past and tired confusion before an incomprehensible future."
In the 1920s, Baliyev went on a European tour with a part of the "Bat" troupe. Until 1922, they somehow tried to preserve the repertoire, but The Bat died in Russia.
Back in 1918, Efros wrote a wish for the theater's tenth anniversary:
“Let what happened happen again. May reality again surpass all dreams and desires.
Efros, 1918
The cabaret repertoire was a humorous take on the productions of the Art Theatre; in his position of the “person from the outside”, which makes it possible to detect with particular acuteness the comic nature of phenomena and situations in which the “person from the inside” could see an unshakable pattern. The many-sided actors changed images and characters several times a day. At first, the repertoire of the "theater of improvised parodies" included humorous miniatures and sketches for productions of the Art Theater. Nikolai Baliyev was one of the most witty entertainers, his reprises created a special brightness of the theater evenings of The Bat. Then the repertoire was filled with musical and dramatic performances. The performances began to gravitate toward sophistication and elitism, designed for a wealthy audience. The theater lived in its own premises with all the necessary workshops for decorators, and the theater already had a permanent troupe.
The repertoire of the theatrical cabaret included miniatures:
"The Blue Bird" (1908, a parody of the performance of the Moscow Art Theater)
Miniature "Clock" - from the collection of French porcelain performed by T. Oganesova and V. Seliverstova
"Under the gaze of the ancestors" - an old gavotte was performed by T. Oganesova, Y. Volkov, V. Selivestrova
"Constanz Cathedral" to the music of A. Arkhangelsky and the words of A. Maikov, performed by Y. Volkov, A. Karnitsky, M. Efremov, B. Vasiliev, A. Sokolov, N. Sokolov, B. Podgorny
"Treasurer". Scenes after M. Yu. Lermontov. Participants: Treasurer - I. I. Lagutin, Staff Captain - Y. Volkov, Treasurer - E. A. Tumanova
"Zarya-Zaryanitsa" to the verses by Fyodor Sologub and music by Suvorovsky. Performed by T. Oganesova, L. Kolumbova, N. Khotkevich, S. Tumanova, A. Sokolov, V.V. Barsova, N. Vesnina.
"Moon Serenade", actress N. V. Meskhiev-Kareeva (N. V. Alekseeva - Meskhiev)
Staged painting by Malyavin "Whirlwind". "Women": E. A. Tumanova, T. Kh. Deykarkhanova, L. Kolumbova, V. V. Barsova, V. Seliverstova, A. Sokolova
The Inspector General, 1909 (short, light, concise, apt, evil, witty)
"Mary Stuart" - N. Tarasov's parody of the performance of the Maly Theater, 1910.
“The scandal with Napoleon, or an unknown episode that happened to Napoleon in Moscow” (about the great Napoleon and his missing driver) - buffoonery by N. Tarasov, 1910.
Dramatization of The Brothers Karamazov (in the play Nemerovich-Danchenko and Alexander Sumbatov sit at a table and drink cognac, with the participation of Fyodor Chaliapin, 1910)
Scenes based on Pushkin's poem "The Fountain of Bakhchisaray" to music by A. Arkhangelsky. Roles were played by: Maria - N. Khotkevich, Zarema - T.Kh Deykarkhanova, Khan - V.A. Podgorny
“In the moonlight” (French song), performed by A. K. Fekhtner, N. A. Khotkevich, V. Seliverstova, T. Oganesova, N. Vesnina
"The knight who lost his wife to the devil." A play by M. Kuzmin, in which this wife was played by N. A. Khotkevich, L. A. Gatova, T. Kh. Deykarkhanova
"Russian toy Posada Sergiev". Music by A. Arkhangelsky. A. K. Fekhtner, M. Borin, K. Korinkt (?)
"Brigan Papa" or "evil beaten misalian". Vaudeville M. Dolinova with singing. Performers: N. A. Khotkevich, I. Lagutin, A. Fekhtner, Y. Volkov
"Madame Bourdieu's shop" - scenes of leaving Moscow. Actors: N. Milatovich, A. Fekhtner, V. Barsova, I. Lagutin, T. Oganesova
"Charity concert in Krutogorsk" - Performers: N.Baliev, E.Zhenin, N.Khotkevich
"Mother", scenes after M. Gorky with the participation of V. A. Podgorny in the role of Timur Lench
"Caprice of Vogdykhan". According to the story of A. Ronye. Performers V. A. Podgorny, A. Sokolov, Y. Volkov
“Serenade of the Faun” to the music of Mozart, the roles were performed by V.V. Barsova, E.A. Tumanova and A. Sokolova
"Crocodile and Cleopatra", in which the role of Cleopatra was played by E. A. Tumanova, then N. M. Khotkevich, V. K. Seliverstova
"Katya". Forgotten polka 80s. The roles were performed by V. V. Barsova, A. K. Fekhtner, M. Borin
Opera (?) by Humperdinck, translated and staged by Nikolai Zvantsev, 1911
"Peer Gynt" (dramatic and musical poem by Baliyev in ten scenes, 1912)
"Sorochinsky Elena" - a parody of the performances "Sorochinsky Fair", K. Mardzhanova and "Beautiful Elena", A. Tairova, 1913
"Theatre Review: The Biggest Failures of the Recently Started Season".
"Ekaterina Ivanovna" - a parody of the play by L. Andreev, 1913
"Count Nulin" to music by Alexei Arkhangelsky, 1915.
The Queen of Spades, 1915. With the participation of T. Kh. Deykarkhanova
Gogol's "Overcoat", in the role of Akaki Akakievich V. A. Podgorny, A. Sokolov, A. Milatovich, Efremov, I. Lagutin, E. Zhenin, M. Borin
The cabaret theater arose in 1908 from the "skits" of the Moscow Art Theater, originally existed as a club of actors of this theater. Organizers - N.F. Baliev and N.A. Tarasov (together with O.L. Knipper, V.I. Kachalov, I.M. Moskvin and others). The "performing evenings" of the club were of an improvisational nature, were designed for "their" audience, included comic performances by K.S. Stanislavsky, Knipper, Kachalova and others, parodies of the performances of the Moscow Art Theater. Since 1910, the club began to give paid performances, which influenced the composition of the public and the repertoire; in 1912 it was transformed into an independent commercial cabaret theater, aimed at a wealthy and educated audience. The director, artistic director and entertainer was Baliyev. Permanent authors - B.A. Sadovskaya and T.L. Shchepkina-Kupernik.
The genres of amateur evenings were actively used - everyday dances, jokes, puns, charades, intimate songs. A type of synthetic actor was formed in the theater, capable of combining a reader, a dancer, a singer, an improviser. The troupe included V.A. Podgorny, Ya.M. Volkov, V.Ya. Khenkin, K.E. Gibshman, E.A. Marsheva, A.F. Geints, E.A. Khovanskaya and others. Directed by V.V. Luzhsky, Moskvin, Baliev, E.B. Vakhtangov and others.
Since 1914, the Bat Theater, without changing its name, gradually approached the theater of miniatures in type. The tables were replaced by rows of armchairs, the leading genre was the stage miniature, built on the basis of the classical operetta, vaudeville (“Six Brides and No Groom” by F. Zuppe, “Wedding by Lanterns” by J. Offenbach), dramatization of the works of the classics (“The Queen of Spades” A.S. Pushkin, "The Treasurer" by M.Yu. Lermontov, "The Nose", "The Overcoat" and "Carriage" by N.V. Gogol, "The Complaint Book", "Chameleon" by A.P. Chekhov, etc.). From 1908 the club was located in the basement of Pertsov's house; after the flood, he moved to Milyutinsky Lane. Since 1915 in the basement of the Nirnsee house (10 Bolshoy Gnezdnikovsky Lane). In 1920, part of the theater troupe, headed by Baliyev, emigrated, and a new, European stage of The Bat began. The rest of the troupe became part of the Satir Agitation Theatre.
GRIGORY GURVICH AND THE FATE OF HIS THEATER.
2003
The heyday of the musical in Russia had its beginning. And at the origins of the revival of the genre was a specific person. He had his own tragedy: at first he was ahead of his time in creativity, then life treated him cruelly and unfairly, not according to his talent. The name of this person is Grigory Gurvich, Grisha Gurvich. In 1989, he created the cabaret theater "The Bat" in Moscow. Such a theater was at the beginning of the century and died under the Soviets. So, Gurvich made an amazing synthetic theater where everyone could speak, sing, and dance. In fact, he was a musical to himself: he organized skits, staged performances and films, and was the soul of society. He was respected as a professional and loved as a person. But he fell ill with a blood disease and died in Israel. Elena Polyakovskaya will tell you about our friend, whom we remember and love, and about his brainchild.
VMZ - Elena Polyakovskaya.
Correspondent: After the death of Grigory Gurvich, his offspring - the Bat Theater - was predicted to die soon. The main argument: this theater rested on one person.
Maya Gurvich, mother of Grigory Gurvich: When all this happened, a tragedy, Grigory Izrailevich Gorin said that he wished the theater well-being, success, happiness, life extension, but he did not see this. He, as it were, from his own experience, believed that when the leader leaves, the theater usually quietly disappears.
Correspondent: Three years have passed since the death of Grigory Gurvich. There have been no performances by the Bat Theater for almost a year. The theater has not officially closed - its artists have been sent on indefinite unpaid leave. The order issued by Gurvich's widow, Lyubov Shapiro, lists two reasons: the first is an increase in the rent of the Kosmos concert hall, and the second is the unprofessionalism and unethical behavior of the artists. As for unprofessionalism, there is a special discussion. After the actual closure of The Bat, most of the theater artists successfully work in many troupes, including productions of popular musicals. Even today they talk about the fantastic school that they went through at the Grigory Gurvich Theater. Lamenting only that with the death of the head of the "Bat" the atmosphere of love and creativity left. However, despite the fact that the rights to the name of the theater, scenery and costumes belong by right of inheritance to the widow of Grigory Gurvich, the artists do not lose hope for the revival of some productions.
Margarita Eskina, director of the Actor's House: So I think about it all the time - you have a terrible, on the one hand, shock that you had it - how many of you had nothing like it! And on the other hand, of course, this is the best time, which is already ... But still, something will be necessary.
Correspondent: For Grigory Gurvich's mother Maya Lvovna, the situation with the "Bat" is a personal drama. When she comes from Israel to Moscow, artists certainly gather with her. These are family gatherings of close people.
Maya Gurvich: These are my relatives, these are my children from Grishenka, Moscow. I feel very warm with them. They are all wonderful - not for nothing that he always admired them.
Correspondent: We filmed this material three days after the birthday of Grigory Gurvich. There should have been twice as many artists of The Bat visiting Maya Lvovna, but just these days the tragedy of Nord-Ost happened, and among the hostages in the hall on Dubrovka were those who worked in the theater of Grigory Gurvich.
Maya Gurvich: I sat in front of the TV for days. The first thing I saw was the topic - this is Grishenka's student, I was happy. There were still five left. Then they told me about some more that went down over their coats, which means three. Worried about the others. But now he is alone in the hospital. So the acting group, here are 6 people, they survived. But among the musicians we have a tragedy: we cannot find one, and the other, unfortunately, died.
Correspondent: On October 24, the artists of the Bat Theater went on stage at the Actor's House, knowing that their friends were being held hostage. Already once they had to perform in a similar state - three years ago, half an hour before the performance "100 Years of the Cabaret", the theater troupe was informed of the death of Grigory Gurvich. Artists adored him, and he adored them. There were no stars in The Bat, everyone here was very beautiful and very talented, as Grigory Efimovich himself said. The viewer could not always determine where the ballet dancers sing and where the singers dance - Grigory Gurvich created a theater where the actors were professionally universal. Gurvich generally knew the value of talent and, like a magnet, attracted talented people. He dreamed of the theater since childhood and believed that someday he would have his own team.
Maya Gurvich: Of course, I remember how he told me: Mom, I will have a theater - do you believe in that? And I couldn't believe it. Moscow, only relatively recently there was GITIS, and all the failures were theatrical, something didn’t work out, it didn’t work out with someone. Have your own theatre? I didn't really believe in it. But it turned out that indeed, here in Gnezdikovskoye, in the old premises of the "Bat", all this worked out.
Correspondent: The theater was his life, but Grigory Efimovich's talent was enough for everything. His "Old TV" is still remembered, and skits and elegant jokes are constantly quoted. Films and television programs remain on film; theatrical performances, even captured on film and video, live as long as they are played on stage. Much of what Grigory Gurvich did in the theater, I, unfortunately, did not have time to see, and therefore I, like many admirers of The Bat, would like this theater to revive, contrary to pessimistic forecasts. This is what the artists want, which means that the idea is worth it. At least in memory of the bright and talented man Grigory Gurvich, his brainchild should not die.
Elena Polyakovskaya, Eduard Gorborukov, Echo TV Company, Moscow.
Gr. Gurvich and actor Valery Borovinsky. Bows. 
Gr. Gurvich on the set of the film "Starry Night in Kamergersky" 
Sp. "Great Illusion"
Maya Lvovna, mother of Gr. Gurvich
Cabaret Theater N.F. Baliev "The Bat" changed several addresses in Moscow:
- the theater began in a small basement of Z.A. Pepper at the address Soymonovsky proezd, 1. In it, after the performances in 1908-1912. artists of the Moscow Art Theater (MKhT) gathered;
- then three years, from 1912 to 1915, the Bat Theater spent in the basement of a house at 16 C1 Milyutinsky;
- from here, for the new season in 1915, the Bat Theater moved to the basement of the newly built Nirnsee house at B. Gnezdnikovsky, 10. The third refuge turned out to be the last: in 1922, the Bat Theater in Russia was closed.
In addition to the artists of the Moscow Art Theater - Kachalov, Stanislavsky, Knipper-Chekhova - many invited celebrities performed on the stage of the Bat Theater. Among them were Fyodor Chaliapin and Leonid Sobinov.
The emblem of the theater-cabaret "The Bat"
Emblem-caprice "The Bat" on the curtain of the cabaret theater appeared in contrast to the academic "Seagull" on the curtain of the Moscow Art Theater. From the "Seagull" I wanted to take a break.
"Bat" - an attempt at revival
On June 12, 1989, Grigory Gurvich's theater-cabaret "The Bat" opened with the play "Reading a New Play". He did not last long. After the sudden death of Gurvich (1957-1999), the theater lasted two years: on December 30, 2001, he stopped giving performances.
