History: Moscow theaters begin their history from the German settlement where already during the times of Tzar Mikhail Fyodorovich theatrical companies performed before the foreigners living there. This was also the place where the first professional company consisting of peasants organized. The future artists were recruited in villages for 25 years of service. The peasants were more afraid of such recruitment than the army because they didn’t know where they were being recruited to. Illiterate peasants were locked up in a barn until they learnt their text by heart. There were even more deserters among the actors than among the soldiers.
The first theater in the Kremlin was opened at the end of the 17c. On the days of performances the entrance tax to the Kremlin was lower - this helped to attract the viewers. Today together with New-York, Tokyo and London, Moscow is among the theater capitals of the world. The number of theaters in the capital which are supervised by the Committee on Culture is 69.
At the Theater: The theater and ballet begin between 19 -19:30, sometimes as early as 18. Matinees start anytime between 11 and 14. During school holidays, the schedule often changes. Most theaters are closed either on Monday or Tuesday.
Be on time, as the ushers are strict about curtain time. When you arrive, check your coat, "rent" opera glasses, and buy a program. At each intermission, drinks and snacks are sold in the lobbies, but pay attention to the bells signaling the end of intermission. The ushers may not let you in. After the play is over, you can go to the head of the line if your are turning in your opera glasses and get your coat at the same time.
Theaters are listed in alphabetical order (by family name if listed). If it is under the leader- ship of a director, the name has an apostrophe, e.g. Pokrovskiy's. If it is named after a famous person, it is listed without an apostrophe, e.g. Pushkin Drama Theater. When possible we list the box office, too.
T.S. denotes Theater-Studya, which are small theaters and workshops. p.r. denotes pod rukovodstvom, "under the direction of".
Rock concerts and "spectaculars" are often held in STADIUMS.

Seating Plans: see THEATER SEATING PLANS. The symbol "²" means that seating plans are given for that theater on the Internet at The Traveller's Yellow Pages On-Line.

Getting Tickets: see THEATER TICKET BUREAUS.

Ballet & Opera Houses. Ballet abounds in Moscow. The "Ballet Season" generally runs from September to June.
TYPNote: Be careful when buying tickets from "touts" outside theater . Check the date and be sure the tickets are together.

The Bolshoi Ballet. The center of ballet in Russia is still the Bolshoi with its extensive repertoire of ballets. It was founded in 1776 and has 2,000 dancers and 1,900 support staff. The theater has 2,260 seats with a chandelier of 13,000 pieces of cut glass.
Performances start at 19:00. There are some Sunday night matinees, closed on Mondays.
Ticket prices through agencies are about $10-15 in the 4th and 5th balcony (bring binoculars), $15 to $40 in the 1st or 2nd balcony (beletazh), $40-60 in stalls (parter), $100-200 in the Imperial Box.
TYPNote: The top performers of the Bolshoi Ballet are often on tour especially during the summer, leaving the junior corps de ballet to perform their skills.
In addition to the Bolshoi Ballet, there are several other good young companies. The Academy of Ballet n.a. A. Vaganova has taught many of Russia's major ballet stars

Bolshoi Theater (Bolshoy Academic Theater) - Gos. Bolshoy akad. teatr Rossii (GABT). World-renowned for its opera and ballet. Built in 1824 by architect O.I. Bove on the site of Old Petrovskiy theater, restored in 1856 by A. Kavos after a fire Ballet Repertoire: Swan Lake (Tchaikovskiy); The Sylph (Levenshell); Romeo & Juliet (Prokofiev), Anyuta (Gavrilin's); Giselle (Adam) and more.