Bakhrushin Theater Museum

Named after the turn-of-the-century theatrical impresario Alexei Bakhrushin and housed in his Neo-Gothic mansion, Moscow's Theater Museum boasts the most extensive and comprehensive collection of theatrical memorabilia in the city. Bakhrushin established the museum in 1894 and eventually handed it over to the State and the city of Moscow in 1913. The museum rapidly became known as the "Moscow Theatrical Versailles" for its vast collections of rare editions of plays, original manuscripts, sketches and models of scenery, stage costumes and accessories, theatrical puppets, photographs, portraits, posters, original programs and carefully preserved audio-recordings.

The museum's collection charts the development of theatrical activity in Moscow, encompassing the genres of ballet, opera, dramatic and children's theater and puppetry, and has a particularly impressive collection of Russian pre-revolutionary and Soviet theater memorabilia.

But the museum's most memorable artifacts have to be set and costume designs for productions of the opera Boris Godunov and Ivan the Terrible in which the famous Russian bass Feodor Chaliapin starred, dance shoes worn by the world-renowned dancer Vaslav Nijinsky and extravagant set designs by the celebrated Russian choreographer Michel Fokine. The museum hosts regular temporary exhibitions and occasional classical music concerts. The museum's collection extends to include the Yermolova Museum, displaying memorabilia from the life of Moscow's most famous actress, the Meyerhold Apartment Museum, charting the life and work of the famous avant-guard theatrical director and the Ostrovsky Estate Museum, dedicated to the Muscovite playwright. See each individual museum description for more details.