Quietly and without idle applause, a great date in world theatrical history has passed: the Natalia Sats Academic Children's Musical Theatre, the first professional musical theatre for children in the world, a theatre that for the first time in history de

Quietly and without idle applause, a great date in world theatrical history has passed: the Academic Children's Musical Theatre named after Natalia Sats has turned 55. It is the first professional musical theatre for children in the world, a theatre that for the first time in history devoted its stage to opera and ballet for children, and was built to a special design with a young audience in mind. The anniversary was marked with The Blue Bird, a work emblematic of the theatre, set to music by Ilya Sats, father of the theatre's founder. The blue bird soars above the dome of the theatre building itself, and the production is played on a particularly grand scale: on the Main Stage, with a broad cast of the company and truly splendid scenery. To visit the theatre on precisely such a day was great good fortune, but I sincerely wish that everyone, even those who neither know nor love theatrical life, might make the acquaintance of this unique project, a great monument to the humanitarian heritage of the Soviet Union. The repertoire is of the richest: from classical and contemporary ballets to rare Renaissance and Baroque productions and pieces from Diaghilev's "Russian Seasons".