“He became the face of the Bolshoi Theater for almost five years”: what was the journalist Mikhail Zelensky

- How did it happen that Mikhail Zelensky was chosen as the host of the Ticket to the Bolshoi program?

- Five and a half years ago, I proposed a new concept for the Ticket to the Bolshoi project. The program itself is many years old, it comes out from the very beginning of the broadcasting of the Kultura TV channel. But before us, it existed in a completely different form, and did not suit the theater very much. Mikhail Zelensky was recommended to me as a host by Konstantin Kuts, the chief director of the Kultura channel. And at first I was skeptical about this idea, because at that time I was not yet acquainted with Mikhail.

It seemed to me that he was an absolute newsman, a person who works exclusively in the studio, reads from a prompter and is not very suitable for the Bolshoi Theater. But Konstantin convinced me, we met, and we immediately had human sympathy. I remember that I came to Vladimir Georgievich Urin (general director of the Bolshoi Theatre. -

) and offered him Mikhail's candidacy. Vladimir Georgievich immediately remembered him and agreed. Urin generally in this sense has a phenomenal intuition. He said, “Yes, that's a great option. Nice, intelligent guy. Let's try".

Speaking about the meeting with Zelensky at one of his first interviews after being appointed director of the Bolshoi Theater, Vladimir Urin said: “He was one hundred percent ready for the interview.

And not on prepared questions, he improvised, based on what his interlocutor was talking about.

It often happens that when asking a question, a journalist is not particularly interested in the answer.

Mikhail not only listened to the answer, his next question depended on what the interlocutor was talking about.

This is very important for an interview so that there is a direct dialogue between the journalist and the interlocutor.

In this, from my point of view, the class of a professional.

He did not just prepare questions, he understood the topic.

Therefore, his questions were extremely accurate and interesting for the interlocutor - it was interesting for me to answer his questions.

• Journalist Mikhail Zelensky and director Nikolai Sergeev at the Ticket to the Bolshoi project

• © From the personal archive of Nikolai Sergeev

— How did the work on the project start?

There was no money for the project at the beginning.

The first months Mikhail worked without getting a penny for it.

He himself was interested in trying himself in a completely new format, in a new genre.

Now I understand that these five years that Mikhail worked on the project "Ticket to the Bolshoi" revealed it from the other side.

It was for him an outlet, creative freedom.

He was not just the host of these programs, he actively took part in creative decisions, in writing the text, in shaping the concept of each issue.

He was not a "talking head" in this project.

How many releases were made?

“Honestly, I can’t get my hands on it to count.

We went out every month, but there were breaks.

We did not go out for five months when the theater closed due to the pandemic.

Still somehow interrupted for three months because of the search for a sponsor.

But I can say that several dozen films have come out in five years.

Did you say movies?

— Yes, each time the project looked more and more like a movie.

It was no longer just a television program, but a special format, in the birth of which Mikhail took the most direct part.

Zelensky became the face of the Bolshoi Theater for almost five years.

He was associated with the Bolshoi Theatre.

He broadcast "Ballet Day" with Katerina Novikova.

This broadcast went to the whole world.

How did your relationship with the theater troupe develop?

- Mikhail became his own at the Bolshoi Theater, a very dear and close person for very many who worked there.

He was distinguished by the fact that he was very friendly.

He didn't have any stellar arrogance.

He was happy to communicate with everyone, from the stage technician to the prima ballerina.

And there was absolutely no barrier and no distance.

In the Bolshoi, everyone knew and perceived Mikhail Zelensky practically as an employee of the theater.

He often appeared there, he had a pass to the Bolshoi Theater.

• Leading ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater Svetlana Zakharova and journalist Mikhail Zelensky

• © From the personal archive of Nikolai Sergeev

- Did you represent another presenter in his place?

- What was the uniqueness of Mikhail as a leader? Previously, it seemed that the musical theater should be told in the style of Svyatoslav Belza, very academically. And Michael brought in a completely different note. He began to talk about what was happening at the Bolshoi Theater in a living language. We had a lot of funny moments. We were always inventing something. Misha read eyeliners, dressing in theatrical costumes. Misha flew in a balloon in the scenery of Manon Lesko. The ballerinas showed Misha how to do exercises on the barre. It was a mixture of documentaries and shows to bring the Bolshoi to a wider audience. And he did it fantastically. Once he dreamed of entering a circus school and acting as a white clown. And it is no coincidence that Charlie Chaplin is on the avatar of his Facebook page.

The tragedy happened while on vacation.

Probably affected by a long flight to the Dominican Republic.

Have you been on tour with him?

We have traveled half the world on tour.

Why else did Mikhail become so much his own person among the artists, because the tour is a special story that brings the team together and unites it very much.

The three of us: Mikhail, me and our cameraman - we went on tour with the Bolshoi Theater for many years.

Were in Japan, and in China, and in America, and in Australia.

Even in such an exotic country as Oman.

I'm not talking about European countries.

And Michael was always with us.

It was already an indispensable element of the Bolshoi Theater's touring life.

- Do you know any details about what happened in Punta Cana?

- Very few.

I don’t know the details about Mikhail’s state of health, but during our rather busy schedule, in which we talked with him, he was not preoccupied with any problems, he lived as he wanted, and was more alive than anyone alive.

Never gave the impression of a person with poor health.

He was cheerful, cheerful, mischievous.

I could not sleep at night, then I could calmly go into the frame and look great at the same time.

Despite the long flights, I don't remember him complaining about pressure surges or headaches.

• Journalist Mikhail Zelensky and director Nikolai Sergeev at the Ticket to the Bolshoi project

• © From the personal archive of Nikolai Sergeev

The editor-in-chief of our project saw Mikhail just before the New Year. He was playful, light and optimistic. Nothing foreshadowed trouble. After the incident, we contacted Mila (Rubinchik, wife of Mikhail Zelensky. -

). Mikhail drank coffee, and he became ill. He took some kind of duty pill, one of those that he usually carried with him, he became even worse. Mila called an ambulance. They took him away. And she never saw him again. The doctors diagnosed him with a stroke. But it is possible to talk about what exactly happened to Mikhail only after the results of the examination.

Immediately after the incident, Mila retired from Instagram because she was tortured with questions.

She thanked for the support.

She wrote that no help was required, because all the formalities were handled by the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company together with the Russian consulate.

She wrote that the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company immediately got involved in this process.

And this is understandable.

Mikhail Zelensky is a special person for the company.

He never cheated on the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, never left anywhere, worked on all channels of the holding for many years.

- Do you plan to make a material dedicated to his memory?

- Now we are releasing a film dedicated to the ballet "Master and Margarita".

And as a creative group, we decided that we would dedicate this issue to Mikhail.

The opening credits will indicate that this was done in memory of him.

He will be out soon.

Michael himself will not be in the film.

For five years, the format of the project has changed.

And now we have come to the conclusion that this is essentially a documentary series about the Bolshoi Theater, consisting of 40-minute episodes.

And Mikhail and Vladimir Urin and I came to the conclusion that in this format the presenter becomes superfluous.

Zelensky's participation was supposed in some separate releases.

During the five years that Mikhail led the program, he himself gave impetus to this change.