“A Man of Soviet Orientation” — American Impresario Sidney Ross
Abstract
This study focuses on the activities of the American impresario Sidney Ross, whose work
has been little studied in both the USA and Russia. During the interwar period, Ross sympathized with the USSR and dedicated himself to organizing overseas tours for leading
Soviet directors and theatres, including Vsevolod Meyerhold and his Moscow State Theatre,
Constantin Stanislavsky and the Moscow Art Theatre, Alexander Tairov and the Moscow
Kamerny Theatre, Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko and Music Studio at the Moscow Art
Theatre). For the first time in Russian and American theatre studies, a brief creative biography of Sidney Ross is presented. The study is based on materials from the collections
of both Russian archives (State Archive of the Russian Federation — GARF, State Archive
of Literature and Art — RGALI, Moscow Art Theatre Museum) and American archives
(Houghton Library at Harvard University, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at
Yale University, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts). The documents identified
allow for a reevaluation of Sidney Ross’s role in organizing the GosTiM tour in Paris in 1930
before the planned trip to the USA, as well as a reconstruction of the process of organizing
this visit to the New World, which ultimately never took place. This study contributes to a
deeper understanding of the reception of Soviet theatre abroad and clarifies the picture of
cultural relations between our country and the United States during the interwar period of
the twentieth century.
Keywords
American theatre, Soviet theatre, Sidney Ross, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Meyerhold’s Moscow
State Theatre, Constantin Stanislavsky, Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, Moscow Art Theatre,
Alexander Tairov, Moscow Kamerny Theatre.
For citation
Gudkov M.M. “A Man of Soviet Orientation” — American Impresario Sidney Ross. Theatre. Fine Arts. Cinema. Music. 2024, no. 3, pp. 106–127.
DOI: 10.35852/2588-0144-2024-3-106-127
EDN NKSXCW
References
- Moskovskij Khudozhestvennyj teatr. Sto let: v 2 t. T. 2: Imena i dokumenty [Moscow Art Theatre. One Hundred Years: in 2 vols. Vol. 2: Names and Documents]. Moscow: Moscow Art Theatre, 1998. 296 p.
- Nemirovich-Danchenko Vl. I. Izbrannye pis’ma: v 2 t. T. 2: 1910–1943/sost. V.Ya. Vilenkin, komm. N. R. Balatovoy, S.A. Vasilyevoy, V. Ya. Vilenkina, I. N. Solovyovoy, L. M. Freydkinoy [Selected Letters: in 2 vols. Vol. 2: 1910–1943/comp. V.Ya. Vilenkin, comm. by N.R. Balatova, S.A. Vasilyeva, V.Ya. Vilenkin, I.N. Solovyova, L.M. Freidkina]. Moscow: Iskusstvo, 1979. 742 p.
- Nesostoyavshejesa “vtorzhenije Meyerholda” v SShA. K istorii neosushchestvivshikhsa gastrolej GosTiMa: 1927– 1931 [The Failed “Meyerhold Invasion” of the USA. On the History of the Failed Tours of GosTiM: 1927– 1931]. Publ., introduction and commentary by M.M. Gudkov. In: Mnemozina. Dokumenty i fakty iz istorii otechestvennogo teatra ХХ veka. Vyp. 10 [Mnemosyne. Documents and Facts from the History of Russian Theatre in the Twentieth Century. Issue 10]. Ed. and comp. by V.V. Ivanov. Moscow: State Institute of Theatre Arts, 2025. (In press.)
- Clurman H. The Fervent Years. The Group Theatre and the Thirties. New York: Da Capo Press, 1983. 329 р.
- Adams C. Lee Strasberg: the Imperfect Genius of the Actors Studio. New York: Doubleday, Garden City, 1980. 398 p.
- Simonson L. Introduction. In: Houghton N. Moscow Rehearsals (The Golden Age of the Soviet Theatre). New York: Grove Press, 1962, pp. XI–XV.
- Gilenson B.A. Sovetskaja kul’tura v SShA v 1930-e gody [Soviet Culture in the USA in the 1930s]. In: Amerikanskaja literatura. Problemy romantizma i realizma. Vyp. 3 [American Literature. Problems of Romanticism and Realism. Issue 3]. Krasnodar: Kuban State University, 1975, pp. 159–175.
- Cherkassky S.D. Masterstvo aktera: Stanislavsky — Boleslavsky — Strasberg: Istorija. Teorija. Praktika [Acting: Stanislavsky — Boleslavsky — Strasberg: History, Theory and Practice]. Saint Petersburg: RGISI, 2016. 816 p.
- Smith W. Real life drama. The Group Theatre and America, 1931–1940. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990. 482 p.
- Ivanyan E.A. Kogda govoriat muzy. Istorija rossiisko-amerikanskikh kulturnykh sviazej [When the Muses Speak. History of Russian-American Cultural Relations]. Moscow: Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya, 2007. 432 p.
- Gorokhov V.S. Robeson. Moscow: Sovetsky pisatel, 1952. 358 p.
- Zimyanin V.M. Paul Robeson. Moscow: Molodaya gvardiya, 1985. 223 p.
- Sboeva S.G. Tairov. Evropa i Amerika. Zarubezhnye gastroli Moskovskogo Kamernogo teatra. 1923– 1930 [Tairov. Europe and America. Foreign Tours of the Moscow Kamerny Theatre. 1923–1930]. Moscow: Artist. Rezhisser. Theatr, 2010. 688 p.
- Vinogradskaya I.N. Zhizn’ i tvorchestvo K.S. Stanislavskogo. Letopis’: v 4 t. T. 4. 1927–1938 [Constantin Stanislavsky’s Life and Work. Chronicle: in 4 vols. Vol. 4. 1927–1938]. Moscow: Vserossiyskoe teatralnoye obshestvo, 1976. 584 p.
- Meyerkhold i Frantsiia [Meyerhold and France]. Publ., introd., comm. by O.N. Kuptsova. In: Mnemozina. Dokumenty I fakty iz istorii otechestvennogo teatra XX veka. Vyp. 4 [Mnemosyne. Documents and Facts from the History of Russian Theatre of the XX Century. Issue 4]. Ed. by V.V. Ivanov. Moscow: Indrik, 2009, pp. 741–818.
- Daesh’ Evropu, Meyerkhold! Gastroli GosTIMa v Germanii v 1930 g. [At Us the Europe, Meyerhold! GosTIM Tour in Germany in 1930]. Publ., introd., comm. by V. F. Kolyazin. In: Mnemozina. Dokumenty I fakty iz istorii otechestvennogo teatra XX veka. Vyp. 4 [Mnemosyne. Documents and Facts from the History of Russian Theatre of the XX Century. Issue 4]. Ed. by V. V. Ivanov. Moscow: Indrik, 2009, pp. 617–740.
- Skorokhod N.S. F. F. Raskolnikov i Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko: dva vzgljada na roman L.N. Tolstogo “Voskresenie” [Skorokhod N.S. F. F. Rraskolnikov and V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko: Two Points of View on Leo Tolstoy’s Novel “Resurrection”]. Theatre. Fine Arts. Cinema. Music. 2021, no. 3, pp 28–41. DOI: 10.35852/2588-0144-2021-3-28-41.
- Arensky K. Pis’ma v Hollywood (Po materialam arhiva S.L. Bertensona) [Letters to Hollywood (Based on Materials from the Archives of S.L. Bertenson)]. Monterey (California): K. Arensburger, 1968. 264 p.
- Lapina G.V. Amerikanskie palomniki v teatral’noj Mekke. Moskovskie teatral’nye festivali “Inturista” 1933– 1937 gg. [American Pilgrims in Theatre Mecca: Moscow Theater Festivals of “Intourist,” 1933–1937]. Rossica. Literary Contacts & Connections. 2022, no. 2, pp. 98–132. DOI: 10.54791/27823792_2022_2_98_132. 20. Lapina G.V. Amerikancy v Moskve: 1930–1940 [Americans in Moscow: 1930–1940]. Moscow: Litfact, 2022. 320 p.
Received: 04.07.2024
Revised: 09.08.2024
Accepted: 12.08.2024