Bolshoi Performer Is Killed in Onstage Accident

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The man, in his late 30s, was crushed during a scene change as the opera “Sadko” was performed before an audience, the theater said.

A performer was killed during an opera at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow on Saturday when there was an accident during a scene change, the theater said.

The man, in his late 30s, was working as an extra in a performance of the opera “Sadko,” by the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. » | Javier C. Hernández | Saturday, October 9, 2021

Masked Moscow Attacker Throws Acid at Face of Bolshoi Theater’s Artistic Director

RT.COM: The Bolshoi Theater’s artistic director was attacked by a masked assailant in Moscow who splashed acid onto his face. Sergey Filin is suffering from severe burns, and may lose his sight. Police have linked the attack to his professional work.

The 42-year-old former dancer, now the Bolshoi Theater’s artistic director, was attacked near midnight on Friday as he left his car outside his home in central Moscow. The masked assailant then fled the scene.

The artistic director of the legendary Russian theater suffered severe burns of multiple degrees to his face and eyes, and is being treated at a hospital in Moscow where doctors are working to save his eyesight.

Filin is “in a satisfactory condition, in our burns center, not intensive care,” a hospital spokesperson said. Medics also suggested that Filin will need plastic surgery, and said the acid had affected his hair, which will start falling out soon, forcing him to wear a wig.

“The most threatening thing is that he has third-degree cornea burns which put his eyesight in danger,” medics explained. However, it will not be known for two weeks whether Filin will be able to keep his vision, Moskovsky Komosomolets newspaper reported citing the doctors.

The theater’s supervisory board said it decided to send Filin to a foreign clinic for treatment, indicating Germany and Israel as the two main options, Interfax news agency reported.

It will take Filin at least six months to recover, Bolshoi spokesperson Ekaterina Novikova said. She added that Sergey Filin had received threats from anonymous callers before. “We never imagined that a war for roles – not for real estate or for oil – could reach this level of crime,” Novikova said to Channel One. » | Friday, January 18, 2013