HAPPY MAN

On February 10, the Director of the Russian Drama Theatre, People's Artist of Azerbaijan Alexander Sharovsky turned 70 years old. On this occasion, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyv, awarded him with the Sharaf Order (Order of Glory). That evening, the artist made some revelation monologues on the stage of his theatre. He confessed his love for the people and city, where he grew up, to the government of the country, as well as to the leading figures of the theatre, who were his teachers and tutors that gave him an opportunity to become an artist.

It all started with love

Like all the boys from the Chadrovaya Street of Baku, he used to play football and dreamed of becoming a football player. He also loved circus and clowns. They seemed extraordinary and mysterious people to him. They had a mysterious life full of magical transformation and magnetic attraction. This has made the young boy to apply to the Student Theatre. And then he met Her: the girl who played in the orchestra of the Youth Theatre and was so nice that he immediately went to the Youth Theatre and impudently managed to have an audience with its director, Zafar Neymatov. It was impossible to retreat, and he was not going to. He asked Neymatov to take him into the band. Apparently, the director saw in this impudence something that helped Sharovsky to pass a sort of “qualification test”. To the joy of our hero, he was admitted and honored to be a member of the cast playing… the croup of a horse. But the novice actor did not care about his role because the object of his love was always near. He was ready to play any ‘character’, even a tail of a horse, if needed. The young beauty appreciated the efforts of her admirer and married him soon afterwards. His next roles included Don Juan, D'Artagnan, Zhadov. Incidentally, the character of D'Artagnan, staged by the director of The Three Musketeers Yuli Gusman, has brought Sharovsky an unprecedented popularity and fame. In fact, the next morning he woke up famous, literally. A test of stardom and popularity was not easy to endure. After some time, he divorced. But he had a son, who presented his father six grandchildren. The elder of them was named after Sharovsky’s grandfather, Jacob.

Confession

Sharovsky recalled his first steps and successes with warmth. Like many in our city, he grew up in a multicultural courtyard. He had a nurse named Sarah who was looking after him. She was an elderly woman, whose children had grown up long ago, and she cared for the little Shurik as for her own grandson. Protecting him from an ‘evil eye’ every time when she felt that someone was looking at the child, she used to hide him under her veil. The adult sons of Aunt Sarah were also instructed to protect ‘her beloved protégé’. So, if older boys somehow offended him, her sons would immediately restore the order and fair-play on the playground and would explaining the offenders why Shurik should never be offended. So came the first recognition and popularity to our hero. He became a “big boy” among his peers on the Chadrovaya Street. After many years, when he has grown up and become a famous artist, Aunt Sarah's sons respected his choice. Proud of his success, they often asked him: “You sure nobody’s offending you, boy?”

He was not offended. On the contrary, the grand masters of the theatre have always supported him in mastering the profession of an actor. His first success and fast-paced popularity at the Youth Theatre required a different format for professional expression, and he accepted the offer to move to the Russian Drama Theatre. Here was shaped his professional career associated with the names and professional activities of the “great old men” Anatoly Falkovich, Vera Shirye, Leo Gruber, Rahil Ginzburg, Sergei Yakushev, Guljahan Gulahmadova-Martynova. And when he had to urgently replace one of the actors in the premiere performance of Mom Courage, the prestige of his counterpart, the People's Artist Vera Shirye has made him feel terribly humble during the performance, when he had to give a strong hug. Vera Karlovna, who played Courage, said: “There are no restrictions on the stage. This particular scene requires the truth of the relationship. Hug me as you should!”. Soon, the actor Sharovsky had his own fans, his audience, who used to visit the theatre particularly to watch his performances. Only his own parents, who did not welcome the professional choice of their son, would not recognize him as a master of the craft and would not go to the theatre. Principally. He was already the Honoured Artist, acting as an assistant director, but the parents continued to treat his choice as very frivolous. Especially Sharovsky’s father. Alexander Sharovsky never received recognition from him for the chosen profession, success, glory.

Jacob Sharovsky believed that the theatre was not a male job. Indeed, parental blessing is a guarantee of harmony of sensations from the obtained success. Sharovsky has never had enough of this harmony, despite his glory and noisy success. Nor did he want to give up his new profession. But in the mid-80s, when he was playing the character of Mendel Krik in the play The Last Love of Mendel Krik (“Sunset”) staged by Jennet Selimova, his mom came to the play. She sat in the first row, and when Mendel (Sharovsky), kneeling in front of the ramp, sang Oh, mommy, violin, looking at her, she was very impressed. The audience burst into applause, and she stood up and proudly said that this was her son. In support of the maternal pride, the audience once again burst into applause. So, after many years of personal success, Alexander Sharovsky received the long-awaited recognition of the family.

Games with space

Perhaps, nothing is more interesting to Sharovsky professionally as the games with space. Someone creates virtual games and whole worlds in 3D, but he creates mise-en-scenes, which he simply calls ‘images’. Sounds funny for professionals, does not it? But both the professionals and amateurs immediately understand everything. Character - mise en scene - character: this is the order to shape the volume of structural action. To imagine the lives of characters inside these images is a fascinating activity for a director. But his living space is not limited to the space of the scene-box. A space called “life” requires a much greater incarnation of thoughts, emotions, and even forces. Today he is a man known in the country, and beyond it. He is actively engaged in social activities, which also require strength, energy of thought, words, and actions. Today, Alexander Yakovlevich Sharovsky is the head of the Jewish Community of European Jews of Azerbaijan, a member of the board of the Eurasian Jewish Congress, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Baku International Centre for Multiculturalism. Here, his skills in the theatrical professions were also useful. After all, speaking skills are part of the acting profession!

Today, the personal space of Alexander Sharovsky is the space of a prosperous man. He was awarded the title of People's Artist of Azerbaijan, the Golden Dervish Award of the Union of Theatrical Figures of Azerbaijan, the Shohret and Sharaf orders, engaged in public activities.

Love = Happiness

Love is a word of unknown origin. It is also found in Latin, ancient Greek, and in Old Slavonic languages. Perhaps there was a good reason when someone has thought up to identify value of this word with heart. On this anniversary event, not only the actors of his theatre congratulated him. Cordial messages arrived from different cities of Russia, Georgia, Moldova, as well as from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan, from partner and colleague People's Artist of Azerbaijan Murad Yagizarov. People’s Artist Brilliant Dadasheva performed a song about love composed by Irina Ivanova and Vagif Gerayzade, which is also a soundtrack of In the Crystal Palace by A. Sharovsky. It was a real musical present, enthusiastically accepted by the audience! But the most important present was news about the presidential decree to award Alexander Sharovsky with the Sharaf Order “for his great services in the development of Azerbaijani culture”. At the end of the event, Sharovsky confessed that the journalists had asked the same question the day before: if he was happy? He replied that he was happy because he has such a President as Ilham Aliyev, First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva, his theatre and beloved wife, actress Natalia Sharovskaya.