Nikita F. Balieff (c.1873â€" 3 September 1936), was a Russian Armenian
born vaudevillian, stage performer, writer, impresario, and director.
He is best known as the creator and master of ceremonies of La
Chauve-Souris theater group.Balieff is believed to have been born in
Erzerum, Ottoman Empire in 1873, he left for Moscow in 1906 and took a
job at the Moscow Art Theater under Konstantin Stanislavski. After
years of only non-speaking roles, and with a desire to perform comedy
rather than drama, Balieff co-created (among with Nikolai Tarasov) his
own theater group in a basement near the Moscow Art Theater. He named
the troupe La Chauve-Souris (French for "bat") after a bat flew up out
of the basement door and landed on his hat.Chauve-Souris enjoyed much
success and popularity in Moscow, until the Russian Revolution in
1917. Balieff then went into exile in Paris and began presenting
vaudeville shows there with other Russian émigrés. He was noticed by
the British theatrical producer Charles B. Cochran, who brought the
troupe to London.In 1922 Chauve-Souris made its first tour to America
through an arrangement with the producer Morris Gest. Balieff and his
company toured from Washington, D.C. to California for 65 consecutive
weeks. Between 1922 and 1929, Balieff returned to America to tour six
times, appearing on Broadway in 1922, 1923, 1925, 1927, and 1929, with
one final show billed as New Chauve-Souris in 1931. His shows
consisted of songs, dances, and sketches, most of which had been
originally performed in Russia.
born vaudevillian, stage performer, writer, impresario, and director.
He is best known as the creator and master of ceremonies of La
Chauve-Souris theater group.Balieff is believed to have been born in
Erzerum, Ottoman Empire in 1873, he left for Moscow in 1906 and took a
job at the Moscow Art Theater under Konstantin Stanislavski. After
years of only non-speaking roles, and with a desire to perform comedy
rather than drama, Balieff co-created (among with Nikolai Tarasov) his
own theater group in a basement near the Moscow Art Theater. He named
the troupe La Chauve-Souris (French for "bat") after a bat flew up out
of the basement door and landed on his hat.Chauve-Souris enjoyed much
success and popularity in Moscow, until the Russian Revolution in
1917. Balieff then went into exile in Paris and began presenting
vaudeville shows there with other Russian émigrés. He was noticed by
the British theatrical producer Charles B. Cochran, who brought the
troupe to London.In 1922 Chauve-Souris made its first tour to America
through an arrangement with the producer Morris Gest. Balieff and his
company toured from Washington, D.C. to California for 65 consecutive
weeks. Between 1922 and 1929, Balieff returned to America to tour six
times, appearing on Broadway in 1922, 1923, 1925, 1927, and 1929, with
one final show billed as New Chauve-Souris in 1931. His shows
consisted of songs, dances, and sketches, most of which had been
originally performed in Russia.
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