Gossip MXAT-Style

I have a big fat crush on one of the MXAT company actors. His name is Anatoly Beliy and he’s kind of insanely hot and talented. He was the lead in The Pillowman. Let’s just say when his monologues got long my mind was not wandering to lunch plans for the next day.

So you can imagine my excitement when we saw him by the company cloakroom before the open dress rehearsal of MXAT’s new show, Gorky’s Vassa Zheleznova (zh is a soft J sound). Laura can attest that I fully turned into a thirteen-year-old girl, elbowing her and squealing every time he came into view. I swear he even looked RIGHT at me. But my face is deformed right now, so that’s probably why. Sigh.

I have mixed feelings about the production. But today’s class with Tolya shed a lot of light on how it was made. We all agree that the main actress, Marina Golub, was a force as the title character…and it turns out she was a replacement! The second act felt hysterically melodramatic, but it was interesting to learn that a lot of the staging came out of etudes the director created with the ensemble. This means they weren’t scripted, but brought life to the inner world of the play. An example of this is the bathhouse scene. In the synopsis Tanya gave us, she said, “and then while Vassa’s off doing business the entire household basically has an orgy in the bathhouse.” But keep in mind there is no dialogue…in this production they bring to life the offstage action to uncover the raw, sexual elements that are much more relevant to modern Russia.

So we’re talking about Marina in class and then Tolya brings up what I had adoringly noticed: at the end of the show when she bowed, my boyfriend—um, I mean Anatoly Beliy—gave her a bouquet of white roses. Aw, isn’t he sweet? (It should be noted that it’s customary here to just walk right up to the stage during the curtain call and give flowers to whichever actors you like.)

What I hadn’t noticed from my seat towards the back of the house was that Marina had started crying when he did that…BECAUSE THEY USED TO BE MARRIED!!! Whoaaaaa there. Marina’s a cougar?? Apparently they divorced a few years ago. But Marina is um…old. And Anatoly is…not. There must be at least a ten to fifteen year age gap between them. According to Tolya, she helped bring him into the company and was kind of a mentor to him (I want him to “mentor” me). Then he got famous, became one of the star actors in the company (rightfully so! He’s freaking amazing) and also does commercial work.

But as Tolya said, “But he gave her white roses, as a kind of a gesture…so it means he is good guy.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. Plus now there’s still hope for me and Mr. Beliy.