This happens to them every year at the end of December. Between rehearsals and performances, they take out false beards, put on red fur coats and go to congratulate the kids on the coming New Year, listen to poems performed by them, dance around the Christmas tree and try to be, and not seem like a real Santa Claus. Mos.ru continues to ask the actors of Moscow theaters about this difficult but fun job.
Grigory Skryapkin (Maly Theater): The biggest difficulty is the costume
- Now I perform, rather, only for the children of my friends - I am very busy in the theater, where I am also Santa Claus. There we have not just performances - the actors also hold all sorts of competitions, give gifts.
When my daughter was little, I constantly played Santa Claus at her matinees. And then, when she grew up, she helped me several times, dressing up as a Snow Maiden. Several times he worked as Santa Claus with one charitable organization. It was in the hospital. I walked through the wards and gave gifts to children who cannot go out. It was nice to do good.
But there were also curious cases. For example, once after a speech in someone's apartment, I saw my bearded colleague at the entrance. The poor fellow drank too much, very tired. I helped him get to the taxi, revived him a little.
In general, the biggest challenge for me in this job is the costume. The fur coat is very warm and heavy, the beard always creeps into the mouth, the wig over the eyes. And if you have to run with the children, then you start to suffocate altogether. So reading poetry is probably such a trick so that Santa Claus can rest a little and recover his breath. Children and poetry are a separate topic. They are very worried, afraid to forget the words, they often come up with their own line endings - sometimes it turns out very funny.
Anton Alipov (Sfera Theater): My tricks always go with a bang
- For the first time I tried on a Santa Claus costume about 15 years ago, when my children were young. It has become a tradition, and now I reincarnate as this New Year's wizard every year. I prefer to work with children in kindergarten. But at corporate parties with adults I do not like to speak - many begin to joke silly.
The main thing in this work is to completely immerse yourself in the image, listen to each child, talk to him about what worries him. If I come to his house, I ask him to tell me what his favorite toys are, to show me his room.
And I also have a few simple, but very effective tricks in store that always go with a bang. For example, I paint water in different colors. To do this, I apply paint on the inner sides of the lids in advance. With the children I screw them onto the jars, shake them - and the water turns green, red or blue. The guys are surprised, very happy. It turns out such a simple miracle.
Oleg Bazhanov ("Stanislavsky Electrotheatre"): The first exit was funny
- Santa Claus is one of my favorite roles in my career. And one of the very first. I was 15 years old when I started. Now 50. It turns out that my Santa Claus is only 35. And to be honest, my first exit was the funniest.
It was a restaurant. After I said the opening words: “Ah, at last I got into this hall,” I forgot all the others. There is a clean sheet in my head. I began to think with horror what to do and how to beat this pause so that everyone would decide that it should be so. I go to the farthest table with guests, take champagne, pour it into a glass, raise my hand up and remember the text. It turned out as if I started my performance with a toast.
Since then I have been working every year - both at matinees and at corporate parties for adults. It does not matter where a person works - in the State Duma or at school, he still sometimes wants to return for a short while to childhood, to a fairy tale. I am especially pleased when adults come up to me and thank me. I remember how one famous oligarch told me: "You know, for the first time in my life a real Santa Claus came to me."
I take the preparation of the holiday very seriously: I am directing and attracting artists, I write the script, I conduct rehearsals.
I would like to give readers one piece of advice: when choosing Santa Claus and Snegurochka you should be very careful. They must have an acting education, vocal skills and choreographic training.
I also want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and wish the fulfillment of the most cherished desires!
Alexander Sizov (MOST Theater): I had to revive faith in Santa Claus
- On New Year's Eve, I usually have a lot of orders. Of course, performing every time is exciting, but the first time it was very scary - I was afraid that the children would expose me. But the most difficult task awaited me during my second performance.
When I arrived, the child's dad took me aside and said: “Last year I decided to portray Santa Claus myself. It’s unsuccessful. Identified by a child. The child was very offended - why did they cheat ?! " That is, I needed to correct my parental oversight and revive faith in Santa Claus. I climbed the stairs and wondered what to come up with. I understood that in any case they would suspect me. I went into the apartment and out of horror, right from the doorway, I say: "Happy New Year!" Then a girl runs out into the corridor: “Oh, Santa Claus! Real”What can I say - I just melted with emotion.
Andrey Rogozin (MOST Theater): Everyone believed that I was a real Santa Claus
- Once Snegurochka and I played a performance in kindergarten. After that, literally a couple of days later, the parents of one of the children invited us to a common holiday in the courtyard of the house. And suddenly their child recognized us! He told everyone: "This is the same Santa Claus who was in our kindergarten!" And then all the children, without exception, believed that I was a real grandfather who walks around the country and congratulates everyone.
There was also one very strange case in my practice. We were invited to the fourth-graders' Christmas tree. But no gifts were prepared at the school! The director gave Snegurochka and me a bag of sweets and asked to distribute to the most active ones during the contests. And we understand that there is not enough for everyone, and it is we who will have to explain why there are sweets for some, and not for others. It's good that this has never happened again.
Pavel Grebennikov (Sfera Theater): The Snow Maiden helps to establish contact
- My work as Santa Claus began with one company for organizing children's parties. They had their own scripts, costumes, and also teachers who told us, animators, about child psychology, about how to better communicate with children of a particular age. So I went to the first performance fully armed. I worked for two years and took a break - it was difficult to combine with the main work in the theater.
Seven years have passed. And one day my colleague-actress asked me to speak at a matinee with her daughter in kindergarten. As an exception, he agreed. Since then, I cannot leave this New Year's fairy tale.
I noticed one interesting thing: if someone is invited to perform at home, then it is better for the Snow Maiden to come too - for some reason the child feels calmer with her, because someone is afraid of Santa Claus, someone does not immediately accept. The Snow Maiden helps to establish contact between us. You never know what to expect from children.
Denis Saraikin (At Nikitsky Gate Theater): I am an unusual Santa Claus
- I will say right away: I am not an ordinary Santa Claus. I am short, only one meter and 70 centimeters. But my task is not to scare the child with the appearance, but to play him. Children immediately trust me. I am a good old friend for them. And some of them are not afraid to try to unhook my beard, saying: "You are an uncle."
When I was a little over 20 years old, I could already lower my voice so that I could not distinguish it from a real Santa Claus. He began to perform at the Christmas trees. Gradually my hobby became permanent.
I remember forever how I congratulated my own daughter. She was two years old, she hardly spoke. I came in a suit, with a beard, gave her a present. And three years later she gives me: "Do you think I didn't understand then that it was you?" I am shocked. Since then, I have not appeared in front of her in this outfit, for some reason I am shy. Although she believes in Santa Claus, I recently wrote him a letter, waiting for a gift under the tree.
Maxim Shutkin (Theater on Malaya Bronnaya): Once I forgot my beard
- As Santa Claus, I discovered myself in our theater. We have a tradition: every January, performances are held for the children of our employees. The actors write the script themselves. There was a rumor that I was good at getting along with children. And they told me: "Come on, you will be Santa Claus." And so it happened.
Then he began to congratulate the children and at home. Once, in a hurry, going to the child, he forgot his beard. Fiasco. What is Santa Claus without a beard? I apologized to the customers. But it was necessary to get out of the stupid situation. I put on a suit, got into the bag, pulled it up to my chin. He played it in such a way that the kind Grandfather was so tempted by gifts for children that he himself ended up in a sack. The child was satisfied. I have been visiting this family for the fourth year in a row and I don’t forget my beard anymore.
I've wanted to stop doing this many times. But now I see the eyes of a child when he looks at Santa Claus and almost loses consciousness from happiness, and I understand that it is worth a lot.
Alexander Ivankov (ApARTe theater): The first experience was successful
- Working as Santa Claus is very difficult. This is a responsibility not only to children, but also to yourself - every time you have to prove to yourself that you can still, that they can believe you. Physically, it is also very difficult - try to dance for an hour in this fur coat. But you have to.
I became Santa Claus a very long time ago, during my student years I worked part-time in a kindergarten. I was given a ready-made script, with which I spoke at the matinee. It turned out to be successful. The work with children is very grateful, they rejoice at the arrival of their favorite character. One has only to try on a beard once and pick up a staff, it becomes difficult to refuse it.
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