In mid-April 1834, a girl was born in the Grigoriev family, who was christened Alexandra. No one suspected that in the future she would become one of the most talented actresses of the era who received fame under the name Kolosova Alexandra.
A girl grew up and was brought up in Moscow. From an early age she felt a love for art, read out plays by Ostrovsky and Moliere and tried on herself the roles of all kinds of book heroines.
Grigoryeva Alexandra
Having become an adult, a blond-haired beautiful girl, who since childhood dreamed of conquering the stage, entered the Moscow Theater School, and this happened back in 1852. She was immediately accepted into the dramatic opera troupe of the Maly Theater. The teachers at that time were S. P. Soloviev and V. I. Zhivokini. The talented girl loved the scene very much and devoted her whole life to it.
Kolosov Konstantin
The Maly Theater not only glorified Kolosov Alexander, but also introduced her to her future husband - Kolosov Konstantin Petrovich. At that time he was a student at the St. Petersburg Theater School and studied ballet. The young man was very handsome, and this fact prompted the director to accept him into a drama troupe to play the roles of heroes-lovers. Thus, Konstantin exchanged ballet for dramatic and vaudeville plays.
For a long time he tried to gain the long-awaited success, gave all his best, trying to gain the love and recognition of the audience, but he did not find much fame. However, in 1860 Kolosov was transferred to Moscow, where he tried himself as a performer of comic roles. His talent acquired large-scale dimensions, gave him fame and universal recognition. Like no one else, he brilliantly played the role of Molchalin, and everyone considered him the best in this field.
Talent Family
In the Maly Theater, Alexandra became acquainted with Konstantin, which soon grew into a serious relationship, and after they got married. Alexandra Grigoryeva became Kolosova Alexandra and with this name gained great popularity on the stage.
Alexandra was well given dramatic roles, and her husband Konstantin - comic. In the family of talented parents, the daughter of Praskovia was born. When the girl grows up, she will follow in the footsteps of her mother and father and become a rather famous actress of the Maly Theater Kolosova Praskovia Konstantinovna. She will work on her native stage for twenty years - from 1887 to 1907. Apparently, the love of the stage and art has the property of being inherited.
The beautiful game of Alexandra
Kolosova Alexandra began her creative career with participation in musical and dance plays. Later, she will perfectly cope with another repertoire - characters filled with dramatic and everyday experiences. The fullness of Alexandra’s gift for acting opened with a wonderful play in various productions based on the plays of Moliere and Ostrovsky. Alexandra Ivanovna was one of the first actresses who played in a large number of vaudeville and more serious plays.
The deep and strong play of actress Kolosova Alexandra Ivanovna in the production of “Mother and Daughter” made a huge impression on contemporaries. Dramatic roles brought her tremendous success and revealed the depth of her talent. Touching, serious and tragic images successfully changed to comedic or everyday roles. Alexandra successfully reincarnated from the suffering Lisa (“Woe from Wit”) to the eccentric and restless Katarina (“The Taming of the Shrew”). Although, it is worth noting that Alexandra preferred the domestic repertoire more than melodramatic and foreign.
Her track record contains a huge number of roles played, where the heroines are absolutely opposite to each other:
- Marya Antonova from Gogol’s comedic play The Examiner;
- Alexandra Petrovna from the drama “Hard Days”;
- Lisette from the play “School of husbands”;
- Princess Eboli from the production of Don Carlos.
Alexandra was the first performer of such roles as:
- Lisa from Ostrovsky’s play “Poverty is not a vice”;
- Ustinka ("A festive dream before dinner").
