2026 № 2 (57)

UDC 792.071; 792.7

LBC 85.33; 85.36

DOI: 10.51678/2226-0072-2026-2-182-221

For cit.: Sarieva E.A. The Moscow Music Hall Production Moscow — Venus, then — Everywhere... (1961): Concept and Implementation. Hudozhestvennaya kul’tura [Art & Culture Studies], 2026, no. 2, pp. 182–221. https://doi. org/10.51678/2226-0072-2026-2-182-221.

Sarieva Elena A. 

PhD (in Art History), Senior Researcher, Mass Media Arts Department, State Institute for Art Studies, 5 Kozitsky Lane, Moscow, 125375, Russia

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2883-773Х 

ResearcherID: AAS-4738-2021

easarieva@mail.ru 

The Moscow Music Hall Production Moscow — Venus, then — Everywhere... (1961): Concept and Implementation

Abstract. The turn of the 1950s and 1960s was marked by an unprecedented emotional upsurge in Soviet society fuelled by the achievements of Soviet science in space exploration. The desire of creative artists to peer into the future and boldly imagine what was destined to come true in the very near future found expression in works of literature, painting, film, and theater. The Moscow Music Hall was no exception. In the autumn of 1961, the play Moscow — Venus, then — Everywhere... premiered, reflecting the achievements of Soviet cosmonautics alongside the comic elements typical of variety shows. The plot and script of the performance were developed by directors A.P. Konnikov and variety artist L.B. Mirov, in cooperation with the authors V.A. Dykhovichny and M.R. Slobodskoy. 

Using surviving periodicals and archival sources, this article provides a partial reconstruction of the performance. The plot revolved around preparations for the first space voyage. The multi-genre performance consisted of variety and circus acts, accompanied or interrupted by interludes by L.B. Mirov and M.V. Novitsky. In addition to the space theme, the play ridiculed ‘individual shortcomings’ of the country and the ‘moral decay’ of the modern capitalist society. 

The conducted analysis has revealed that not all episodes from the original script were staged. The article examines the two unstaged episodes for which the authors planned to use cinematography. 

Keywords: theater, variety art, Moscow Music Hall, Moscow — Venus, then — everywhere..., A.P. Konnikov, L.B. Mirov, M.V. Novitsky, V.A. Dykhovichny, M.R. Slobodskoy, N.S. Kholfin, M.I. Blanter 

Sources:

Dykhovichnyi V.A., Slobodskoi M.R. Moskva — Venera, dalee — vezde… Feeriya-buff v pyatnadtsati ehpizodakh s odnoi peresadkoi: Variant. Nepolnyi tekst, nabroski, plany i skhemy postroeniya, tekst pesen i dr. [Moscow — Venus, Then — Everywhere… A Bizarre Extravaganza in Fifteen Episodes with One Transfer: Variant. Incomplete Text, Sketches, Plans and Diagrams, Song Lyrics, etc.]. RGALI [Russian State Archive of Literature and Art], f. 2282, inv. 2, storage unit 54, 110 l. (In Russian)

Dykhovichnyi V.A., Slobodskoi M.R. Moskva — Venera, dalee — vezde… Feeriya-buff v 14 ehpizodakh s odnim antraktom [Moscow — Venus, Then — Everywhere... A 14-Episode Extravaganza with One Intermission]. RGALI [Russian State Archive of Literature and Art], f. 2282, inv. 2, storage unit 55, 76 l. (In Russian)

Programmy spektaklei “Zhenskii monastyr’”, “Klyaksy”, “Moskva — Venera, dalee — vezde…”, “Svadebnoe puteshestvie” i dr., postavlennykh v Moskovskom teatre satiry, Moskovskom myuzik-kholle, Leningradskom teatre im. Lensoveta po p’esam V.A. Dykhovichnogo i M.R. Slobodskogo [Programs of the Performances The Convent; Blots; Moscow — Venus, Then — Everywhere...; Honeymoon et al., Staged at the Moscow Satire Theater, the Moscow Music Hall, and the Leningrad Lensovet Theater Based on Plays by V.A. Dykhovichny and M.R. Slobodskoy]. RGALI [Russian State Archive of Literature and Art], f. 2282, inv. 2, storage unit 193, 16 l. (In Russian)

References:

Vorobyeva M.V. Satiricheskii kinozhurnal “Fitil’” kak chastnyi sluchai sovetskoi gosudarstvennoi politiki v oblasti komicheskogo [Satirical Cinemagazine Fitil as a Case of Soviet State Policy in the Sphere of Humor and Comedy]. Izvestiya Ural’skogo federal’nogo universiteta. Ser. 1: Problemy obrazovaniya, nauki i kul’tury, 2025, vol. 31, no. 3. pp. 18–30. https://doi.org/10.15826/izv1.2025.31.3.039. (In Russian)

Konnikov A.P. Kosmicheskoe puteshestvie [Space Travel]. Vechernii Leningrad, 1962, no. 10 (4940), p. 3. (In Russian)

Konnikov A.P. Mir ehstrady [The World of Variety Art]. Moscow, Iskusstvo Publ., 1980. 272 p. (In Russian)

Latsis A. S Luny prizemlilis’ [Landed from the Moon]. Teatral’naya zhizn’, 1962, no. 1, pp. 16–18. (In Russian)

Na ehstradnoi orbite [In the Estrada Orbit]. Sovetskaya kul’tura, 1961, no. 113 (1293), p. 3. (In Russian)

Roma R. Veselyi vecher [A Fun Evening]. Leningradskaya pravda, 1962, no. 23 (14280), p. 3. (In Russian)

Uvarova E.D. Ehstradnyi teatr: Miniatyury, obozreniya, myuzik-kholly. 1945–1990 [Variety Theatre: Miniatures, Reviews, Music Halls. 1945–1990]. Moscow, Top Yunion Publ., 2011. 352 p. (In Russian)

Shcherbakov K. “Moskva — Venera, dalee — vezde…” [Moscow — Venus, Then — Everywhere...]. Teatr, 1962, no. 2. pp. 97–98. (In Russian)

Received 22.12.2025

Revised 26.02.2026 

Accepted 02.03.2026