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A native Muscovite from Tsvetnoy Boulevard

Magicians and trainers, jugglers and horse riders, acrobats and clowns. In 1880, a whole new world. The circle of the arena and, like rays, rows of chairs in the auditorium. In place of the booths near the flower market, a circus opened. Not the first in Moscow, but from its very first performances it became a favorite. Natalya Letnikova collected 10 facts from the history of the first state circus of the USSR.

From booths to circus art. The Moscow circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard has Italian roots. One of the first successful stationary circuses in Moscow was opened by an Italian, hereditary circus artist Albert Salamonsky. Initially as part international project. The “siblings” of the Tsvetnoy circus were scattered throughout Europe: in Berlin, Odessa, Riga.

Salamonsky Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. Photo: mos-open.ru

Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. 1947 Photo: retromap.ru

Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. 1965 Photo: russkiymir.ru

Famous circus building- the work of the architect August Weber. Graduate of the Vienna Academy fine arts in Moscow he built a lot - the Actor's House, once the Katkovsky Lyceum - now the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Grandfather Durov's Corner. Weber built the Salamonsky Circus with the money of the merchant Danilov. By the way, the first audience of the new entertainment venue consisted mainly of representatives of the merchant class.

Circus place. Circus booths were traditionally held at the Flower Market in Moscow. The place is familiar. Before construction began, Salamonsky did not have a penny - he built on credit. After the opening, he provided stalls and boxes and the most democratic places - a standing gallery, where a ticket cost a penny. Salamonsky hung the first ruble he earned in a frame at the cash register - for good luck, and the circus fortune did not disappoint.

The circus has become the world of childhood. With the light hand of Salamonsky, children's Sunday performances - matinees - appeared in the circus arena. A special petition assured that “the programs will be adapted to children’s understanding.” Especially for young spectators at Christmas, circus New Year trees with gifts, ballets and pantomimes were organized. One of the most popular, The Doll Fairy, was published in 1895.

Decree... about the circus. In 1913, the circus's shine faded with the death of Salamonsky; six years later, the circus on Tsvetnoy became the first state circus. The document was signed by Lenin. The troupe did not come under the wing of the young republic at its best. In the first years of Soviet power, artists went hungry and even performed in the streets. The new repertoire proved: “the Soviet circus can do miracles.” Mayakovsky himself participated in the creation of the reprises.

Yuri Nikulin, Mikhail Shuidin, Dmitry Alperov. Scene "Log". 1981 Photo: moiarussia.ru

Yuri Nikulin and Mikhail Shuidin in the circus arena. Photo: tverigrad.ru

Yuri Nikulin and Mikhail Shuidin in the circus arena. 1958 Photo: coollib.com

"In the arena - Pencil"- Pravda wrote in advertisements about the life of theater in Moscow. People's Artist of the USSR Mikhail Rumyantsev with his constant companion Scotch terrier Klyaksa entered the circus arena on Tsvetnoy in 1936 and worked for half a century. He brought Yuri Nikulin and Mikhail Shuidin, who made up the clown duo famous throughout the country, to the arena. The arena remembers both the “sunny clown” Oleg Popov and the clown with “autumn in his heart” Leonid Engibarov.

Memory of generations. In the circus lobby there is memorial sign- in 1941, an ensemble of Don Cossacks went straight from the arena to the front. The artists not only went through the entire war, but also reached Berlin. In the circus itself, the performances did not stop. The famous pantomime “Our Three,” motorcyclist fights, acrobatic clowning, and in the finale, in the arena, a tank crushed “enemy pillboxes.” At the circus on Tsvetnoy they did their best to raise morale.

Yuri Nikulin Circus. After the war, my favorite artist graduated from the clowning school, worked for 30 years in the famous duet with Mikhail Shuidin, and in 1982 headed his native circus. Circus tours did not allow the actor to play many roles - for example, Yuri Detochkin in the film “Beware of the Car”. But with the light hand of the clown Nikulin, the short film “Moonshiners” appeared. Yuri Vladimirovich proposed the interlude played out in the arena to Gaidai. I liked the idea and made it onto the screen.

New building of the old circus. Having served the circus art for one century and five years, August Weber's building required modernization. House number 13 with a 13-meter arena was broken down after the performance on August 13, 1985. "Hello, old circus" - new program the artists at Tsvetnoy said already in 1989. Technological progress touched the filling of the building, appearance They tried to preserve the auditorium in its historical form.
Cinema and circus - on Tsvetnoy The works of the sculptor Alexander Rukavishnikov were combined in the monument to Yuri Nikulin. Nikulin in clown boots and a boater hat - near the famous convertible that shone in the comedy “Prisoner of the Caucasus”. A bronze car “parked forever” at the doors of the circus. There could have been a circus trapeze or a falling curtain, but in bronze the sculptor embodied the idea of ​​​​unifying circus and cinema. Everything is like in the life of Yuri Nikulin himself. The circus on Tsvetnoy has been named after him since 1996.

The Moscow Circus named after Yuri Nikulin, located on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, is one of the very first circuses in Russia. Its building was born in 1880, and it is not only alive to this day: it is functioning. The lucky first ruble that was earned by the circus on Tsvetnoy not only kept it, but also helped increase the wealth of its owners and develop the talents and skills of its workers. The first viewer entered this mystical building on October 20, 1880. Initially the hall had only five rows comfortable chairs, there were boxes, even a mezzanine was built. For simpler people, second seats were organized on wooden benches and a place for spectators enjoying the performance while standing. These places were not numbered. In 1919 it received the status of the first state circus. The building on Tsvetnoy Boulevard was repeatedly completed and remodeled, extensions and side chapels were created. But in the end it acquired a form that we cannot see today. In 1985, the old building was destroyed and a new one was built in its place. This is exactly what we see today.

Just like in the old days, today, the circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard has always been searching for something new: new acts, new artists, new talents, new performances.

New old circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard

The circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard began to bear the name of Yuri Nikulin in 1996. This was decided in honor of the 75th anniversary of the greatest artist. Today the building accommodates more than 2,000 spectators. The interior of the circus was designed anew, trying to make it convenient for animals and performers to be in it, as well as to make the work of all artists, including the administration, comfortable.

Circus performer, film actor, People's Artist of the USSR, who is rightfully considered one of the leading representatives of Russian culture of the twentieth century, Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin was born on December 18, 1921 in the city of Demidov, Smolensk region. Father, Vladimir Andreevich Nikulin, wrote sketches, reprises, and clowneries for the circus and stage. He organized the traveling theater "Terevyum" (Theater of Revolutionary Humor) in Demidov.

Mom Lidia Ivanovna sang verses in this theater. After moving to Moscow in 1925, Vladimir Andreevich worked as a journalist for the publications Gudok and Izvestia, and led a drama club at school, where Nikulin Jr. studied, who at that time dreamed of singing in jazz, like Leonid Utesov.

In November 1939, after graduating from school, Yuri Nikulin was drafted into the army and sent to serve in anti-aircraft artillery. He served for seven years from private to senior sergeant, took part in the Finnish War, went through the entire Great Patriotic War, defended Leningrad, liberated the Baltic states, was shell-shocked in 1943.

After being demobilized in 1946, Yuri Vladimirovich decided to become an artist. He took exams at VGIK (All-Union State Institute Cinematography) and GITIS (State Institute Theater Arts), to the Shchepkin Theater School, but was not accepted anywhere. After these unsuccessful attempts, he entered the conversation studio at the Moscow Circus, from which he graduated in 1949. At the beginning of his circus career, Yuri Nikulin performed in the Moscow State Circus in a group of clowns led by the famous clown Karandash (N. Rumyantsev). Then it started independent work; he began performing with his regular partner Mikhail Shuidin. Their creative duo became famous throughout the world. Sometimes they were joined by Tatyana Nikulina, the wife of Yuri Vladimirovich (later she more than once worked as his “decoy duck”). The unforgettable “Scene on a Horse”, “Log”, “Thorns and Roses”, etc. and the image created by the great artist remained in the memory of the audience: an imperturbable man in short striped trousers and huge boots in a black jacket, white shirt, tie and boater hat . For my long life in the arena, Yuri Nikulin created many unique reprises, sketches and pantomimes.

In 1981, Yuri Nikulin stopped performing at the arena and two years later became artistic director and director of the Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard.

At the age of 37, Yuri Nikulin made his film debut; he starred in the crowd of the film “The Russian Question”, portrayed an American, but the footage with his participation was cut out.

In 1958, Yuri Nikulin starred for the first time in an episodic but effective role in the comedy “Girl with a Guitar”; the following year he played the role of a drunkard and parasite in the comedy “Unyielding”. However, 1961 was a landmark year for Yuri Nikulin, when he starred in Leonid Gaidai’s short story “Dog Barbos and the Unusual Cross,” in which the legendary comic trio was born - Coward (Georgy Vitsin), Dunce (Nikulin) and Experienced (Evgeny Morgunov).

Later he starred in more than forty films, playing both brightly comedic and dramatic and truly tragic roles: “When the Trees Were Big” (1962), “Business People” (1963), “Young Green” (1962), “Give me a book of complaints” (1965), “Come to me, Mukhtar!” (1965), “Operation “Y” and other adventures of Shurik” (1965), “Prisoner of the Caucasus” (1967), “The Diamond Arm” (1969), “The Twelve Chairs” (1971), “Old Robbers” (1972) , “They Fought for the Motherland” (1975), “Twenty Days Without War” (1977), “Scarecrow” (1984), “Circus for My Grandchildren” (1990), etc.

The unusually complex image of the monk Patrikey was revealed by the actor in just a few minutes of screen time in Andrei Tarkovsky's film "Andrei Rublev."

All his life, Yu. Nikulin collected and loved to tell jokes; he published popular “anecdotes from Nikulin” in a number of publications and appeared on TV in the 1990s as the host of the humorous program “ White parrot" He is the author of the books “Almost Seriously”, “999 Anecdotes from Nikulin”.

In 1973, Yuri Nikulin was awarded the title "People's Artist of the USSR", and in 1970 he became a laureate of the State Prize of the RSFSR.

On August 21, 1997, Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin died in the hospital due to complications after heart surgery.

In June 1999, at the grave at Novodevichy Cemetery a monument by sculptor Alexander Rukavishnikov was unveiled. And in September 2000, near the circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard (now named after Nikulin), where Yuri Vladimirovich worked and which is now headed by his son, bronze monument a person whose calling was to bring joy and warmth to people. Sculptor Yuri Rukavishnikov cast in bronze the famous convertible from "Prisoner of the Caucasus" (in a slightly reduced scale), from the back door of which Yuri Nikulin in his short clown jacket and boater hat comes out directly onto the sidewalk.

Actor and circus figure Yuri Nikulin is a man whose name is forever inextricably linked with Soviet cinema, who became a legend during his lifetime. He had an innate talent for making people laugh, and therefore most often appeared on screen in the form of comedic characters. However, dramatic roles were also excellent for the actor. Many years have passed since the actor passed away, but in the hearts of millions of fans he is still alive - after all, his roles in numerous films that we are reviewing are alive - these are the comedies of Leonid Gaidai and Eldar Ryazanov, “They Fought for the Motherland” by Sergei Bondarchuk, Andrei Rublev by Andrei Tarkovsky and many others.

Childhood and youth

The future great actor was born on December 18, 1921 in the small town of Demidov, Smolensk region. His father, Vladimir Andreevich (b. 1898), a Muscovite and lawyer by training, after the revolution, joined the army and served near Smolensk, where his relatives lived. Shortly before the end of his service, he met a local actress drama theater Lydia Ivanovna (born 1902). They got married, the young man got a job as an actor in the same theater. Later he founded the mobile theater "Terevyum", which meant "theater of revolutionary humor."

When the boy turned 4, the family moved to Moscow - to the 15th house of Tokmakov Lane. The head of the family got busy literary activity: wrote programs for variety acts, worked as a journalist. Lidia Ivanovna did not work, she did housework. Twice a week the Nikulins always went to the theater, after which they talked about what they saw.

In 1929, the boy went to first grade. He did not show any particular interest in studies, but enjoyed playing in the school drama club, which was led by his father. On this stage, Yura received his first acting experience. He also tried himself in writing. One day, a story he wrote won second place in a regional competition. The prize was a meeting with Arkady Gaidar, but due to a sore throat, Yura could not come. And when at the age of 15 he saw the film “Modern Times” with Charlie Chaplin, he fell ill with cinema.

In 1939, Yuri graduated from school, but did not receive a matriculation certificate - he failed drawing. Later, he finally passed the exam, and in the fall, in accordance with the decree on universal conscription, he joined the army.

Life at the front

The unit where Nikulin served was located near Leningrad. At first, a skinny, tall, awkward guy in an oversized overcoat was the cause of general merriment, but the recruit knew how to laugh at himself, so the mockery quickly stopped. Every week he received many letters from his parents and other relatives - so many had never been written to any soldier in the company.

Only a month of Nikulin’s army life had passed when the Finnish War began. Yuri wrote a statement: “I want to go into battle as a volunteer.” Ahead were 7 long years in soldier's boots, overcoats, with weapons in their hands. In March 1940, hostilities with our northern neighbor ended, but military training, exercises, and political information classes continued. And then came June 22, 1941. For the first two years of the war, Nikulin fought as part of the 115th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment and earned the rank of senior sergeant. After hospitalization due to pneumonia, he was transferred to another regiment, but Nikulin never arrived at his new destination - on the way he was concussed by an exploding shell. Having recovered from his injury, Yuri arrived at the 72nd Anti-Aircraft Division near Kolpino.

I can't say that I am one of the brave people. No, I was scared. It's all about how this fear manifests itself. Some of them had hysterics - they cried, screamed, and ran away. Others bore everything outwardly calmly.

Only on May 18, 1946, a year after the end of the war, Yuri was demobilized from the army. Memories of hunger, cold, killed comrades. However, the moments he experienced only confirmed his thirst for life and determination in choosing his future path in life.

Nikulin and the circus

After demobilization, Nikulin submitted documents to VGIK, but was refused at the final stage. The admissions committee considered him not handsome enough for cinema and advised him to enter a theater school. But neither GITIS nor Shchepka accepted him, as did several schools of a lower rank. He had already given up, but remembered the advice that was given to him during an audition at GITIS by then still aspiring director Anatoly Efros, who suggested that in case of failure the applicant should try his luck in theater studio Noginsk Theater. The advice helped - the director of the theater, Konstantin Voinov, saw something in Nikulin and accepted him.

However, already in September, Yura was fired up with a new idea - he was lured by the circus with its bright lights. Mom had doubts - the theater seemed to her a much more noble cause, but her father, who saw his charm in the profession of a circus performer, gave the go-ahead. Nikulin entered the circus studio at the Moscow Circus, where the famous clown Karandash was a mentor, without any problems, and graduated in 1948 with a clown diploma. At the “big arena” he first performed in a duet with his friend Boris Romanov. Nikulin’s father wrote the first sketches for young artists.

Soon Romanov left the circus. Mikhail Shuidin became Nikulin’s new partner. The comrades appeared on stage together for 30 long years.

Yuri Nikulin and Mikhail Shuidin. Miniature "Horses"

In 1950, Nikulin left the Karandash troupe, as his faithful partner Shuidin began to conflict with his boss. Both were simply tired of the aggressive, capricious Rumyantsev, who could lash out at his subordinates at any moment. And just a year later, the duo, together with the sketch “Little Pierre”, written by Yuri’s father, visited abroad for the first time. In the story, a little French boy was putting up opposition leaflets, and the unlucky police officers played by Nikulin and Shuidin caught him. The duo's success infuriated their former employer.

First film roles

In 1949, Nikulin was invited to a screen test - director Konstantin Yudin was thinking of casting him for the role of a cowardly German in his Eastern film “Brave People.” This is how the clown visited the Mosfilm studio for the first time. But either the director didn’t like the auditions, or this character was cut from the script - this was the end of Yuri’s participation in Yudin’s project. And later he found out that Grigory Shpigel was approved for this role.

Nikulin’s film debut took place only 9 years later in the film “Girl with a Guitar,” where he played the role of a would-be pyrotechnician who almost burned down a store. Despite his very small role, the actor was well remembered by the audience. And in 1959, the actor made his mark with the role of the rogue Albert Klyachkin in the film “The Unyielding” about difficult youth. And although he had disagreements with the director in the vision of his hero - one saw Klyachkin as a kind of shirtless guy, and the other as a phlegmatic cynic, and in general the aspiring actor did not like this experience, as Nikulin later recalled, everything looked wonderful on the screen.

In 1960, director Eldar Ryazanov drew attention to the actor. Nikulin began filming his film “The Man from Nowhere,” but due to bureaucratic delays, production was postponed for a year, the actors were replaced, Nikulin’s character, a dysfunctional young man named Prosha, was given to Sergei Yursky.

Meet Gaidai

But every cloud has a silver lining. In those days, one of Nikulin's performances was attended by Georgy Vitsin. Almost tearing his stomach from laughter, the next day he told about the talented comedian to director Leonid Gaidai, who was filming the short film “Dog Barbos and the Unusual Cross” about the adventures of a dog and a trio of criminals - Coward, Dunce and Experienced. Initially, Sergei Filippov was supposed to play the Goonie, but he went on tour with the theater. As soon as Gaidai saw Nikulin, he immediately said: “Well, there’s no need to look for Goonie. Nikulin is what you need.”

The film told the story of poachers who decided to stun fish with dynamite. Unfortunately for them, a dog decided to play with a stick of dynamite, bringing it back to the trio every time. After the premiere of the short film as part of the film almanac “Quite Seriously,” the trio Vitsin – Nikulin – Morgunov became extremely fond of the Soviet audience, and in 1962 a sequel, “Moonshiners,” followed. This time, the criminal elements decided to make money by making moonshine, but the dog that appeared in their forest house again confused all the cards.

Between Gaidai's short films, Nikulin played main role in the drama “When the Trees Were Big” and proved that he was capable of dramatic roles. He played Kuzma Iordanov, a man who became an alcoholic after the death of his wife and decided to adopt an orphan. It is noteworthy that the director of the film had not seen a single role of Nikulin before, but watched his performances in the circus. And while working on the film, it was decided to give Nikulin a beard to better fit into the character. So, by his fortieth birthday, Nikulin, who had already won the status of a recognized circus star, also became a cinema star.

After this, minor but striking roles followed: in Alexander Mitta’s film “Without Fear and Reproach” he played essentially himself – a clown; in Gaidai’s comedy “Business People” he played a robber in the short story “Kindred Souls”. Nikulin took part in the filming of the film magazine “Wick” (short film “Vlip”).

Yuri Nikulin in the film magazine “Wick” (“Stuck”, 1962)

After this, the circus artist began to receive filming offers regularly. The films “Prisoner of the Caucasus”, “Operation “Y””, “Come to me, Mukhtar!”, “The Diamond Arm”, “Seven Old Men and One Girl”, “They Fought for the Motherland”, and many others became classics of Soviet cinema and before are still favorite films for millions of people in all corners former USSR. Thanks to his roles in films, Yuri Nikulin became popular in all republics Soviet Union, and also received countless different awards, including the title People's Artist USSR in 1973.

Nikulin in a new era

In the 80s, Nikulin almost did not act. An exception was Rolan Bykov’s school drama “Scarecrow” with young Kristina Orbakaite, where the actor appeared in the image of an unsociable grandfather main character. Nikulin's last film role was as a circus director (and voiceover) in the 1991 film Captain Crocus.

In the early nineties, Yuri Vladimirovich made his mark as a TV presenter. Between 1993 and 1997 he led humorous program“White Parrot” on the ORT channel, and was also a regular participant in the project “Ships Came into Our Harbor.”

"White Parrot" with Yuri Nikulin

Yuri Nikulin also wrote several autobiographies and acted as a compiler of collections of jokes. The artist’s most popular works among readers are the memoirs “Almost Seriously” and “Seven Long Years.” The first book tells about the underbelly of cinema, the second - about the front-line years of the actor.

Personal life of Yuri Nikulin

Yuri fell in love for the first time at school. Being an awkward 13-year-old youth, he did not dare to confess his feelings to his peer who had sunk into his soul. Later, while he was a soldier, he began a relationship with a girl named Rita. She waited for him from the front, but as soon as Yuri proposed marriage to her, she admitted that she was in love with the pilot. It must be said that Rita’s relationship with another man did not work out, but with Yuri they maintained friendly relations until the end of their lives.

In the winter of 1949, the actor, who was taking his first steps on the professional circus stage, met Tatyana Pokrovskaya, a student at the Timiryazev Academy, who was 8 years younger than the artist. She was fond of equestrian sports, and one of the horses, Tatyana’s favorite, was needed by the clown Karandash, under whom Nikulin was working at that time. At the performance that the girl came to watch, the horse showed temper and trampled the clown. Tatyana felt guilty and for a month regularly went to visit Yuri in the hospital. Soon the artist proposed to his beloved.

Nina Grebeshkova, Tatyana's classmate, was surprised when she saw Nikulin next to her school friend - it was strange for her that such beautiful woman chose such an unsightly life partner. And she didn’t even suspect that she would play his wife in “The Diamond Arm.” For Tatyana herself, her husband’s appearance was not important - Yuri conquered her with his charisma and charm from the first minutes of their acquaintance.

Yuri Nikulin with his son Maxim (1962)

The couple lived together for 47 years until the death of Yuri Vladimirovich in 1997. According to the recollections of loved ones, they lived in perfect harmony, sharing all the hardships and joys between them. Tatyana died in October 2014 at the age of 86.

Death and memory

The exhausting schedule undermined the artist’s health. By the age of 70, he had diabetes, problems with blood vessels and liver, and pain in the lungs. In the summer of 1997, unbearable pain in my heart was added to this list. The examination showed blockage of the main heart vessels. They began to prepare the actor for the operation, which, due to many complications, promised to be a difficult test for both the doctors and Nikulin. However, the artist went to the operation with a light heart.

Up to a certain point everything went well, but just before the final, what the doctors feared most happened - the heart of the people's idol stopped. They managed to launch it, but for about half an hour Yuri was in a state of clinical death. Half an hour on the verge of life and death - internal organs began to fail. For the next 16 days, doctors fought for Nikulin’s life, but on August 21, at 10 am, his heart stopped forever. Thousands of people attended the memorial service for the actor, including President Boris Yeltsin. The artist was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery.

In memory of the great artist in different cities Russia has erected memorial plaques and monuments in his honor. In particular, these can be found in Khabarovsk, Kursk, Irkutsk, Sochi and in the actor’s hometown of Demidov. The circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard is named in his honor, with which for a long time the life and fate of the actor was connected. The ship assigned to the port of Rostov-on-Don also bears the name of Yuri Nikulin.

• Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard was opened in 1880 and immediately became popular among Muscovites.
• Business card Circus on Tsvetnoy - performances featuring unusual animals that are difficult to train.
• Always at a high level aerial gymnasts performed
• Yuri Nikulin he wasn’t accepted into any theater school in Moscow, so he went to the clownery studio at the circus on Tsvetnoy.
• Nikulin here worked with famous clown With a pencil. Over time, Nikulin became a circus director, and then - its director.
• There is an opportunity to take a unique excursion“Behind the scenes of the circus”, which must be booked in advance.

The Yuri Nikulin Circus is one of the most famous in Moscow; it has been operating continuously for more than 100 years. Here they carefully preserve the traditions of Russian circus art and boldly combine them with modern means of expression. Talented artists, unique performances with rare animals, bright, rich performances and a special homely atmosphere - this circus has always been the forge of real stars of the arena: Vladimir and Anatoly Durov, Kornilov, Oleg Popov, Karandash, Kantemirov, Yuri Nikulin and Mikhail Shuidin, etc.

Repertoire and auditorium

The circus is located in the center of Moscow, on Tsvetnoy Boulevard (it is often called “the circus on Tsvetnoy”). Over its long history, it has never changed its location, although the building was extensively rebuilt and renovated several times. The latest reconstruction made it possible to completely adapt it for performances at the modern level of circus art.

Nikulin's Circus is famous for its bright, charismatic artists, new forms of expression and thematic performances dedicated to holidays ( New Year and Christmas, Victory Day). He does not stand still - in his arena you can always see something that you have never seen anywhere else. The calling card of the Circus on Tsvetnoy is acts with the participation of animals that are difficult to train: elephants, porcupines, llamas, ostriches, lemurs, camels. The performances of aerialists, invariably performed at a very high level, also cause a storm of delight - for example, the "Twirl" routine and balancing act with a ladder.

The auditorium is not very large - about 2000 seats - cozy, with good review. Often it cannot accommodate everyone, so it is better to purchase tickets in advance. A child under six years old can travel for free with an adult if they sit on their lap. When choosing seats, you need to take into account that in the front rows the spotlights interfere; It’s not very comfortable to observe the rooms under the dome from here either. The most comfortable seats are located in the third row and above. The most popular and expensive tickets in the area opposite the artists' exit, under the orchestra - they are sold out first.

It is better to arrive to the performance early, since it is difficult to find a parking space on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, and due to the small area of ​​the circus building, there are queues in the cloakroom. In the lobby you will find souvenirs, traditional circus attributes (clown noses and funny costumes, for example), and sweets. Here you can see exotic animals up close and take pictures with them. There is a buffet. However, there will be queues waiting for you everywhere.

Spectators can also take a unique excursion “Behind the Scenes of the Circus” - see with their own eyes the performers’ rehearsals, visit the dressing rooms and museum, the stables, learn how costumes are sewn, communicate with the animals and, perhaps, even take a ride on the elephant elevator. This little journey is often no less exciting than the performance itself. You must book the excursion in advance through the form on the official website of the circus or by mail: [email protected]

History of the circus. Yuri Nikulin.

Circus on Tsvetnoy has a long and interesting story. It was opened in 1880 and immediately became popular among Muscovites. Children were also introduced to the circus culture - separate morning performances were organized for them. The circus continued to operate after the revolution and during the years. The artists constantly went to the front, where they performed for soldiers on the front line and in hospitals. Many members of the troupe themselves signed up as volunteers and died in battle.

The circus received its current name in honor of Yuri Nikulin, one of the most beloved actors of Soviet cinema. In his youth, the future artist was not accepted into any theater school - some did not like his appearance, others thought he had no talent. Then Nikulin went to the clownery studio at the circus on Tsvetnoy. Here he worked with the famous and extremely beloved clown Karandash (M.N. Rumyantsev). Then he met Mikhail Shuidin - and a famous creative duo was formed, whose numbers are still the best examples of its genre. Over time, Nikulin became a circus director, and then its director. Now the circus is headed by Yuri Vladimirovich’s son, Maxim Nikulin. Next to the circus building there is a monument to Yuri Nikulin (sculptor A. Rukavishnikov). The actor, depicted in a clown costume, gets out of a car - the same as in the movie “Prisoner of the Caucasus”.

2016-2020 moscovery.com

Total ratings: 2 , average rating: 4,00 (out of 5)

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Location

Inside Sadovoe

Nearest metro station

Tsvetnoy Boulevard

Address

Moscow, Tsvetnoy Boulevard, 13

Website
Operating mode

Mon: 11.00 - 19.00
Tue: 11.00 - 19.00
Wed: 11.00 - 19.00
Thu: 11.00 - 19.00
Fri: 11.00 - 19.00
Sat: 11.00 - 19.00
Sun: 11.00 - 19.00

Break from 14.00 to 15.00 (if there are daytime performances - from 12.30 to 13.30).

Weekends
Ticket prices

Depends on the program.