My Date with Tchaikovsky!
On February 14th Leah, Ross, Jessi and I had tickets to go see The Nutcracker at the Mikhailovsky Theatre. It may not be the Miriinsky, but it was the start of a very interesting weekend.
Here is the group before we left for The Nutcracker!
From left to right, Me, Jessi, Leah and Ross. Leah and Ross are the cutiest couple I have met. They have a great sense of humor and are so much fun to be around. I am so very lucky that they became my roomates. They both have very good understanding of the Russian language as well as Russia’s Soviet past. It makes for good debate and ribbing between parties (since I am an Imperialist).
Anyway.. So we left for the Mikhailovsky in a taxi around 5:00pm, and arrived at the theatre around 6ish. Traffic is crazy in St. Petersburg. However, since we agreed on a price with the taxi driver before we left for the theatre, traffic made no difference on the price of the ride (400 Roubles from our dorm to the theatre.. only 100 per person). Getting there was okay, I got a glob of car dirt on the back of my leg when I got out of the cab, so I had to clean it with snow… *brrr*.
Once we got inside the theatre we checked our coats and purchased programs (only 30 roubles) and went upstairs to our seats. However, since we were so early, we had to wait outside the main theatre room until closer to 7:00pm. Outside they had a nice little cafe and mini museum of the theatre. The mini museum was very interesting, and Leah and Ross took part in the cafe appetizers (which looked amazing and delicious).
Closer to game time, we entered the theatre.
Leah and Ross were kind enough to share their pictures with me that they took (I forgot my Camera – I didn’t realize that we were allowed to take photos inside). So, without further ado, here is the inside of the theatre:
The stage and stage curtain.
I just thought that the theatre itself was beautiful, the stunning light fixtures and the architecture of the rows.
This stunningly beautiful Angel is above the stage
Me and Jessi inside the theatre during the intermission. It was a very interesting first experience in the Russian theatre system. The seating is not as comfortable as Centre in the Square (for those in Kitchener/Waterloo area who know what I am talking about). The seats had no arm rests and they were stuck chair leg to chair leg, so in some cases, you were rubbing legs/arms/buttcheeks with your neighbour. It was a very uncomfortable seating arrangement. However, the show itself was amazing. The actors were fantastic and the live orchestra was half the show to me. So the live orchestra of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker was worth the money alone
One of the rather funny situations that happened was during the ballet, there was a little girl who was sitting next to me, and because of the older women sitting in front of her, she couldn’t see the stage, so she ended up almost on my lap trying to see the show (which blocked by view of the stage). Eventually, after the intermission her mother held her on her lap on another seat (so I almost had arm room beside me!).
It was a great night at the ballet, and after the ballet things got even better.
This is the Mikhailovsky Theatre after we left it. As you can see, it was snowing pretty heavy. But it made for such a beautiful night.
After the show, Jessi, Leah, Ross and I went to dinner at a sushi house and it was the best dinner I had had since being in Russia. It was so fantastic (and expensive – $40) but it was worth it, and it totally made the night.
The walk home after the show was a little brutal (my only dress shoes were flats that I had not worn before, so they were cutting into my feet, and it was cold and slushy outside) but Jessi was a Jem and she swapped me shoes so I could have as comfortable walk home as possible. We arrived home at midnight, and although there were shortfalls with the evening, I think it was one of the most enjoyable nights I have had in Russia. At least so far…
Well ladies and gentlemen, that about makes this blog update! My Valentine’s date with Tchaikovsky went wonderfully.
Until Next Update!!
♥ Laura 
Now THAT beats monkeys in snowsuits!