Family dramas “Quartet I. Jewish blood Quartet I” Filmography of Leonid Barats
Leonid Grigorievich Barats is a resident of Odessa. He was born in July 1971 into the Jewish family of journalist Grigory Barats and teacher kindergarten Zoe Baratz. At first they wanted to name the boy Alexey, but then his parents changed their minds and named him in honor of his great-grandfather - Leonid. Probably, the first name was more suitable for the future artist, because his friends and relatives call him Alexey.
Although Leonid Barats’ parents are not connected with the world of art, they dreamed that their son would choose a creative profession. Or a journalist, like dad, or an artist. And Leonid’s beloved grandmother, who worked as an accompanist at the Odessa Opera House, made sure that her grandson received a good musical education. It was she who instilled good taste in the boy, introducing him to the world of theater, opera and ballet. Leonid Barats attended one of the music schools in Odessa, where he learned to play the piano. At first he didn’t really like this activity, but after meeting jazz, everything changed.
Leonid Barats not only attended music lessons, but also enjoyed performing at school stage. He learned the craft of acting in a theater group that operated at his school. The boy also often came to work with his father and got the opportunity to study the journalistic “kitchen” from the inside. This is probably why it was not easy for Leonid, who graduated from school, to decide what he most wanted to become - a journalist, an artist or a musician.
His decision was greatly influenced by his long-standing friendship - from the 1st grade - with. The guys were not only friends, but also communicated outside the school walls. They attended a theater club and performed in amateur performances. After graduating from school, the friends decided to try to conquer Moscow. They went to the capital and without much difficulty, having experience of performing on the theater stage behind them, entered GITIS.
"Quartet I"
At GITIS, Leonid Barats and Rostislav Khait met and. The future artists created their own creative quartet, calling this project “Quartet I”. From that moment on (1993), the actors were inseparable. They work together on their productions and act as actors themselves. In the same 1993, on the stage of GITIS, “Quartet I” staged its debut performance, entitled “These are just cliches.” The production was a great success.
In 2001, a new play appeared, called “Radio Day,” the script for which was written by Leonid Barats. The production brought resounding success to the creative quartet. In addition to the named artists, the performance featured: All of them woke up famous after Radio Day.
In 2002, Leonid Barats and colleagues continued their successful climb up the career ladder. Barats, together with Rostislav Khait and Sergei Petreikov, wrote the script for the next production called “Election Day”. The cast of this performance remained the same as in the previous project. True, now the emphasis has shifted more to politics. With these productions, “Quartet I”, having begun performing in the capital, soon went on tour around major cities Russia, and then throughout the CIS countries. Success followed the artists wherever they appeared.
A cinematic biography of Leonid Barats started in 2008. This year the play “Radio Day” was filmed. And the next year the same thing happened with Election Day. The creators and constant participants of “Quartet I” played the main roles in both films, which received great interest from the audience and laudatory reviews from critics. And although it was television that brought Leonid Barats and his colleagues most of the glory and fame, Barats himself sincerely believes that acting on the theater stage is more interesting and valuable.
In the 2000s, the artists of Quartet I filmed their other successful performances. This is how the paintings “What Men Talk About” and the sequel – “What Else Men Talk About” appeared.
Leonid Barats can be seen in music videos of Svetlana Roerich, the group “Bravo”, and the groups “Combination” and “”. In addition, the voice of Barats is spoken by the characters of some animated films: Reno from the American cartoon “Volt”, Darwin from “Pirates. Band of Losers" and others. Leonid Barats is the author of the script for the famous animated film “Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf.”
In 2014, the comedy “Faster Than Rabbits” was released on screens across the country. This is also a project of Quartet I. The script for the film was written by Leonid Barats and Rostislav Khait. This is a light and witty comedy about three friends who are trying to understand in the morning after a stormy night where they are and what happened the day before. Leonid Barats played one of the friends, whose name is Lyokha. In addition to him, Alexander Demidov, Kamil Larin, Rostislav Khait, and other famous actors played in the film.
In 2016, a new project by Quartet I will be released, in which all the brilliant four starred. The film was called "Election Day 2". The actors played employees of the radio station “Kak would radio”, who went as PR specialists to the elections in the region. They must work for candidate Igor Tsaplin, who suddenly disappears.
Personal life
For a long time, Leonid Barats’s personal life was connected with his wife Anna Kasatkina. The young people met within the walls of GITIS and got married in 1991. Anna played the wife of the hero Pasha in the film “What Men Talk About.” In 1994, Leonid and Anna had their first daughter, whom they named Elizaveta. Eva was born in 2003.
At the end of 2015, it became known that Leonid Barats and Anna Kasatkina divorced. They lived together for 24 years. However, they continue to work together, and the daughters communicate with both their mother and father.
In his free time, Leonid Barats likes to play the piano and loves football. He is also known for his critical attitude towards the current government of the country and has repeatedly taken part in protests against some bills.
Filmography
- "Election Day"
- "Radio day"
- "What Men Talk About"
- “What else do men talk about?”
- "Faster than rabbits"
- "Wonderland"
- "Election Day 2"
Currently, Leonid's creative career is on the rise. He acts in films and often appears on the theater stage. Probably everyone knows about this. But what else do we know about the life and work of this extraordinary actor? Collect some Interesting Facts from his biography we decided today.
Early years, childhood and family of Leonid Barats
Our today's hero was born in one of the largest cities in Ukraine - Odessa. He was born and raised in a Jewish family. His father, Grigory Isaakovich, worked as a journalist. And my mother, Zoya Izrailevna, was an ordinary methodologist in kindergarten.Oddly enough, from childhood, Leonid Barats’ parents wanted him to choose a creative specialty for himself. Among the main “favorites” were the professions of actor and journalist. And our today’s hero did not object to this development of events.
From an early age, he often visited his father’s work, studying the world of Soviet journalism from the inside, and at the same time attended amateur acting classes at his home school. Both of these activities - journalism and acting - were very popular with the young Odessa resident, and therefore for a long time the painful choice of profession was the main difficulty in his life.
Ultimately, the decisive factor was Leonid’s friendship with another Odessa schoolboy, Rostislav Khait. They knew each other since first grade. They attended acting classes together, and subsequently began to communicate closely outside of school. Some time later, the young actors began to make plans to conquer the Moscow theater stage. After waiting for graduation, two friends collected their simple belongings and went to enroll in GITIS. Surprisingly, the entrance exams turned out to be successful for both of them.
Leonid Barats on the first of April
While studying at a theater university, Rostislav introduced Leonid to two other young actors - Kamil Larin and Alexander Demidov, who by that time already had good experience in theater and cinema. The friends began to spend a lot of time together, and subsequently decided to continue their cooperation in the future. Thus, at some point, the idea of creating a comedy theater - “Quartet I” appeared.
As part of this project, each of the participants acted not only as an actor, but also as a screenwriter and producer. All performances were created through joint efforts, and this approach very soon began to bear fruit. The first performance of the young team was directed and staged on the training stage of GITIS. However, subsequently “Quartet I” began to often perform outside the institute’s walls.
Star Trek by Leonid Barats, films and theater
Our today's hero began performing in Quartet I in 1993. During this period, Leonid Barats was able to feel like a popular theater actor for the first time. The public always came with pleasure to all the performances of the group. Famous critics also favored him.Thus, in just a few years, the comedy project “Quartet I” became very popular in Moscow and beyond. In the mid-nineties, actors began to tour Russian cities for the first time. Some time later, tours of CIS cities were also added to this.
As for the work of Leonid Barats directly, in this context it is worth noting that it was he who made the most tangible contribution to the success of the team. Having written the script for the play “Radio Day”, he proved himself to be a talented playwright, thereby predetermining the overall success of “Quartet I”.
Quartet I - Leonid Barats about Prokhorov and the elections
This production became a major hit in the repertoire of the comedy theater for many years. Actually, it was with her that the triumphant ascent of the young group to the heights of the theater stage began. The glory of “Quartet I” was also strengthened by the play “Election Day”, which became a logical continuation of the first part. The author of the script for the new project is again Leonid Barats. Other actors took part only in some adjustments to the original text.
In 2008 and 2009, cinematic adaptations of both performances were also released. The films “Radio Day” and “Election Day” were a great success at the box office, and soon the fame of “Quartet I” became even more global. The following took part in the films: Russian stars, like Sergey Shnurov, Leva and Shura Bi-2, Andrey Makarevich and others.
Subsequently, Leonid Barats starred in two more films based on the previous performances of the Quartet - “What Men Talk About” and “What Else Men Talk About.” In addition, in the 2000s, our today’s hero appeared on screen in several music videos (for songs by Svetlana Roerich, the groups “Agatha Christie”, “Bravo” with Valery Syutkin and “Combination”).
Another “optional” job for the talented native of Ukraine was also the work on dubbing various American cartoons. So, in particular, Rhino from the cartoon “Volt” and Darwin from the animated film “Pirates” speak in the voice of Leonid. A bunch of losers." Concluding the topic of “animated” creativity, we note that Leonid Barats is also the author of the script for the cartoon “Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf.”
Personal life of Leonid Barats
For many years now (since 1991), our today's hero has been married to actress Anna Kasatkina, with whom he once studied at GITIS. In particular, she can be seen in three films of “Quartet I” at once - in the films “Radio Day”, “What Men Talk About” and “What Else Men Talk About”. The happy couple have two children - Elizaveta (born 1994) and Eva (born 2003). 
IN Everyday life Leonid Barats likes to play music (the actor plays the piano well) and also plays football. It is also well known about his political views. In particular, our today's hero has repeatedly taken part in protests against the Putin government, and also openly criticized some bills.
In March onRussian A film based on the sensational and already hugely successful play “Radio Day” by Quartet I came out on the screens. After the premiere, correspondent Jewish. rumet with one of its founders, Leonid Barats.
“Radio Day” finally confirmed the positions achieved by the humorous group “Quartet I” over 15 years of existence. Their jokes, quite subtle and not vulgar, did not take root on radio and television for a long time, going against the dominance of “format” humor. After wandering for some time on the waves of radio stations, where Quartet I took its first steps, performing original reprises, the group found itself on the theater stage, which, as we know, has at all times been the main reflector of the morals and mores of society.
Of course, in Lately one could repeatedly hear unflattering statements from critics about what was “served” to the public in the theater. But, as history shows, it is precisely during times of stagnation that innovators appear, called upon to bring a fresh spirit to art and take it to a new level. Representatives of ideas that have long accumulated in society, as a rule, have a hard time fighting decay, given that they are often simply ahead of their era and remain misunderstood. Many went through this without ever seeing the results of their labors, and in this sense, Quartet I was lucky. Recognition came to the team 10 years after its creation, and their work is deservedly appreciated and enjoys great popularity.
Without noticing it themselves and not trying to encrypt deep subtext in their work, they do with comedy what no one has been able to do for a long time - they reflect public consciousness, the political and economic situation of our time, conveying it accurately and witty. Although unconsciously, as they themselves declare, “out of personal preference,” they use in their productions the music of modern groups, whose work can be called, if not timeless, then at least carrying meaning and highlighting individuality.
We can only hope that over time, the work of “Quartet I” will develop “according to the laws of wine fermentation,” because now on their shoulders lies a great responsibility to the viewer, who has already known the taste of high-quality creativity and does not want to return to the “format feeder.” The site's correspondent met with one of the founders of Quartet I, Leonid Barats.
Leonid, in the play “Radio Day” a situation is reproduced that is not visible to the average listener. What radio stations did you watch all this on?
At first we worked at Europe Plus, literally for a month, then we were kicked out of there for the cacophony of some of our reprises: the management simply did not understand what they were talking about, it seemed to them that it was all somehow cacophonous. Then they went to Nashe Radio. More precisely, they found Misha (Kozyreva), and he already brought us to “Our Radio”. Three years ago we switched to “Silver Rain”, with whom we “mothballed” our relationship eight months ago.
- And why radio? Are you planning on television?
We decided to stage a play specifically about radio, because we believe that there is still preserved that romantic atmosphere of individual freedom that has long been lost on television. And to be honest, we still don’t have a passion for blue screens.
In your repertoire you use the music of groups whose work can be called classics of the Russian rock and roll scene. Is this related to the concept of your work?
No, this is due solely to personal preferences and preferences.
- Leonid, tell us about your life before moving to Moscow.
I was born in Odessa on Bazarnaya Street. After some time, I went to kindergarten, which is not typical for almost any child. Then I went to school for ten years and out of school for the same amount of time. I studied well in humanities subjects... when I studied, of course. But overall, pretty mediocre. I don’t have any C’s, one C in chemistry was simply corrected for me by the compassionate mother of one of my classmates. So I was definitely not an excellent student. After school I went to Moscow to enter GITIS.
- Were your parents afraid to let you go to Moscow?
Of course they were afraid. Still, we went to Israel, to America. At this moment the third wave was just underway. And we were also completely overwhelmed, almost the whole family left, and I was even somehow pulled there by a stray wave, but then I was washed back to my native shore. I have a green card, but it’s not clear why I need it. So, in fact, after GITIS, Rostislav Khait and Sergei Petreikov, I created Quartet I, and since then my fate has become public. What can I tell you, everyone knows everything, my every step is known (with a smile and feigned pathos).
As a hereditary resident of Odessa, everything is in order with the tradition of humor... Did your family adhere to Jewish traditions?
No, ours didn't. My grandparents spoke Yiddish. Mom understands everything, speaks a little. I myself don’t know Yiddish, except for a few expressions appropriate for an Odessa Jew. They didn’t go to synagogues, there was no talk at all about teaching any Jewish subjects. We are absolutely secular people, we lived in a secular state, non-religious, in general, Russians. Jewish blood, of course, is felt in some inclinations and characteristics that are characteristic of a Jew, physical and moral.
I am proud of our nation, of the people living in Israel and defending their state, but I don’t want to go there. Not because I’m afraid or anything else, I just feel good here, I consider this place my homeland. Here I grew up and spent my entire adult life, here is my home, and there is my national history.
- The traditional question is, have you encountered anti-Semitism?
Yes, sure. Now I’ll tell you the most egregious case: once in a pioneer camp I hit a man’s face, when I was about eight years old, and he was about seven years old, for which he bit me on the hand. Then I was taken from the pioneer camp. This is such injustice.
But seriously, there were no obvious manifestations against me. Was public policy, but it didn’t particularly bother me. The only thing that was offensive was when in the eighth grade an American delegation came to our school, and then there was supposed to be a return visit from the children. I was successfully chosen as a candidate by a majority vote of the class, but another person went, because Jews were not allowed abroad. And the girl, who was half Jewish, was allowed in... Half (laughs)– although for this she had to take her mother’s Russian surname. In fact, during my life I have encountered more rudeness and aggression, but this had nothing to do with my nationality. Moreover, there are many Jews in Odessa, and if something happened, there would be many people who would stand up for their own.
In general, if we talk about what is happening in the country now, I believe that we are looking for enemies both outside and inside. Naturally, the first enemies are national minorities, which also includes Jews. Few understand and know who the Jews are among those people who shout “beat the Jews,” but they need an enemy, and they draw some kind of image for themselves. I believe that this is cultivated by the state: on the one hand, they stand at the opening of synagogues, demonstrating their loyalty to Jews and not only to Jews - synagogues, mosques, and so on; on the other hand, they turn a blind eye to manifestations of fascism. The Nashi party exists freely in the country, which is also, to some extent, a manifestation of fascism. In addition, in my opinion, xenophobia and the search for an enemy have one vector: we are not going abroad to beat the Yankees, which means we need to splash out this force somewhere, and it splashes out on the streets. In this sense, the state, I repeat, is pursuing an ambiguous policy.
- What do you think about the introduction of teaching the basics of Orthodoxy in schools?
I believe that such an item has a right to exist. Just then there must be an alternative. That is, it should be voluntary: if a child wants to go study the basics of Orthodox culture, he goes, but if he doesn’t want to, he should have an alternative: go to some secular lesson or go to a class where he will be taught Judaism, or Islam or Buddhism. We have secular state, and this is possible, but only on a voluntary basis. And I have an extremely negative attitude towards compulsory attendance at such lessons, even because it is simply illegal.
- Leonid, in conclusion, tell me what can we expect from Quartet I in the future?
In the future, I think, there will be another comedic step into cinema and the obligatory film adaptation of the play “Faster than Rabbits.”
Leonid Grigorievich Barats. Born on July 18, 1971 in Odessa. Russian actor, director, screenwriter. One of the founders of the comic theater "Quartet I".
Father - Grigory Isaakovich Barats, journalist.
Mother - Zoya Isaevna Barats, methodologist in kindergarten.
He was the only child in the family. He received the name Leonid in honor of his great-grandfather, despite the fact that his parents initially wanted to name him Alexey. According to him, he still cannot come to terms with his real name.
Attended a music school where he studied piano. In high school I became interested in jazz.
In 1978, he studied at one of the Odessa schools together with, who later became his colleague in Quartet I. They attended the school theater club together and performed in amateur performances. Also together, Barats and Khait, after school, went to Moscow to enter a theater university. And both did.
“After graduating from school, I had three options in front of me. I could go to America - it was 1988, and many people around were leaving: relatives, friends, acquaintances... I could stay in Odessa and go to university - to the philology department or to the faculty foreign languages. But by this time I had already decided that I would become an actor. Accordingly, it was necessary to go to Moscow to enroll in GITIS,” he said.
In 1993 he graduated from the variety department of GITIS, artistic director V. Korovin.
In his first year, Leonid met and Sergei Petreikov. After graduating from GITIS they formed a comic theater "Quartet I". In the same 1993, on the stage of GITIS, “Quartet I” staged its debut performance - “These are just cliches.” The production was a great success.
In 2001, Quartet I staged the play “Radio Day,” the script for which was written by Leonid Barats. He also, together with Rostislav Khait and Sergei Petreikov, wrote the script for the production “Election Day”.
“Quartet I” toured with its productions throughout Russia and many CIS countries.
He got his first experience working in cinema back in 1990, when he studied at GITIS - he starred in an episode of the film “Hunting for a Pimp.” Played several episodic roles in the early 2000s.
The actor became widely known in 2007, when the film “Election Day” (an adaptation of the play of the same name by “Quartet I”) was released, in which he played Lesha, a creative political strategist.
Leonid Barats in the film "Election Day"
Other film projects of “Quartet I” also enjoyed great success with viewers: “Radio Day”, “What Men Talk About”, “What Else Men Talk About”, “Election Day-2”.
In 2014, the comedy “Faster than Rabbits” was released on screens across the country, also a project of Quartet I. The script for the film was written by Leonid Barats and Rostislav Khait.
In December 2015, the comedy “Wonderland” was released on the big screen (and at the beginning of 2017 on TV), the screenwriters of which were Leonid Barats, Rostislav Khait, and Sergei Petreikov. The entire famous four of Quartet I starred in the film.
He starred in music videos for Svetlana Roerich, Valery Syutkin and the Bravo group, the Combination and Agatha Christie groups.
The actor is known for his active socio-political position. He is in opposition to the Russian authorities.
He took part in protests “against election fraud.” He spoke out against the so-called. "The Law of Dima Yakovlev."
Leonid Barats in the program "Evening Urgant"
Leonid Barats' height: 166 centimeters.
Personal life of Leonid Barats:
From 1991 to 2015, he was married to actress Anna Kasatkina (known for her role as Anya in the film “Radio Day”, the wife of a business traveler in the film “What Men Talk About”, the wife of Pasha in the film “What Else Men Talk About”). Anna is 3 years older than him. They met while studying at GITIS.
The couple has two daughters: Elizaveta (born 1994) and Eva (born 2003).
In the fall of 2015, it became known that the couple had divorced. At the same time, they continue to work together and have maintained good relations.
“Even after the divorce, our daughters, as you understand, are still “ours”, and not separately their father’s or mother’s. Therefore, I will tell you this: Lisa and Eva live with us. For them, in this sense, nothing has changed, especially in materially... I’m trying to somehow smooth out this story with our divorce for them. The children are doing fine. And my wife and I didn’t become enemies - we just stopped being spouses, but despite the fact that it’s very difficult for both of us emotionally, We try to remain good friends. This is the best way out in our situation - Anna and I work together," Leonid commented on the divorce.
Among the actor's hobbies is playing football.
Filmography of Leonid Barats:
1990 - Hunting for a Pimp - episode
2002 - Money
2003 - Radio Day (film-play) - Lyosha, DJ
2007 - Election Day - Lesha, political strategist and creative
2008 - Radio Day - Lyosha
2010 - What men talk about - Lyosha
- Lyosha
2011 - Nonna Grishaeva. "I'm from Odessa, hello!" (documentary)
2013 - Faster than rabbits - Lyosha
2015 - - Levan Gogia
2015 - Election Day-2 - Lyosha
Voiced by Leonid Barats:
2015 - Savva. Heart of a Warrior (animated) - Monkeys
Directed by Leonid Barats:
2003 - Radio Day (film-play)
Scripts by Leonid Barats:
2007 - Election Day
2008 - Radio Day
2010 - What men talk about
2011 - What else do men talk about
2013 - Faster than rabbits
2015 - Wonderland
2015 - Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf-3 (animated)
2015 - Election Day-2
Producer works of Leonid Barats:
2008 - Radio Day
2010 - What men talk about
2011 - What else do men talk about
2015 - Election Day-2
Video clips with the participation of Leonid Barats:
Combination - “Accountant”
Svetlana Roerich - “Palms”
Clementia - “Somewhere Beyond the Seas”
group "Bravo" - "It's dawn outside the window"
group "Agatha Christie" - "Sailor"
group "Agatha Christie" - "Merry World"
group "Bi-2" - "Hipster"
Anton Chekhov - "Good Luck"
Alexandra Demidov was abandoned by her mother at the age of seven, and Kamil Larin made a living by selling juice and cognac
22 years ago, GITIS graduates - Leonid BARATS, Rostislav KHAIT, Kamil LARIN, Alexander DEMIDOV and Sergei PETREYKOV - created the Quartet I theater. For the first three or four years they subsisted on the money that Petreikov took from foreigners for renting his apartment. Soon their performances began to generate income.
However, along with success, almost each of the guys had problems in their personal lives. Some managed to cope with the crisis, while others started new families. And now the Quartet is in complete chocolate.
The path to phenomenal success was thorny. The main milestones in the lives of fashionable artists are in our improvised alphabet.
"Agatha Christie"
Members of Quartet I appeared in the videos of this group more than once. For example, in “The Sailor” Baratz and Khait played orderlies carrying a stretcher with the corpse of a sailor, and in “The Merry World” they played rioters in straitjackets.
Baratz
It is generally accepted that this surname is derived from a Hebrew abbreviation, translated meaning “son of a righteous rabbi.” Leonid's father, by the way, is a journalist. And Lenya himself is not gay at all, as some thought after “Election Day,” but quite the opposite.
Great
“Thanks to” this means of transportation, ninth-grader Sasha Demidov lost his first love. I became close with Lenochka during the summer holidays. The girl, like him, came to the village to stay with relatives. He had his first kiss with this girl. Under the cover of darkness, the couple climbed into the barn, leaving their bicycles at the entrance. At first, Sasha and Lena looked at each other for a long time, then they touched their little fingers, then they hugged, and only at dawn Sasha tasted her lips. There was nothing left to get to the main thing, but milkmaids passed by the barn and, seeing the bikes, realized: the teenagers were causing debauchery inside. The powerful aunts almost broke down the door - the frightened Sanya held the defense as best he could and did not allow strangers to enter the barn. After this, Lenochka’s parents immediately took her home. They never saw each other again.
"Demidov BAND"
This is the name of Alexander’s musical project, created by him in 2011. The artist has been passionate about music for more than 20 years. The style in which he works is characterized as bard rock. Performs together with the group "Beavers".
Zhvanetsky
Thanks to Michal Mikhalych, Slava Khait entered GITIS. The guy was poorly prepared, it was clear that he was flying over. Then the father - Valery Khait, captain of the famous Odessa KVN team of 1967 - 1970 - asked an old acquaintance to put in a good word for admissions committee. And everything came together right away, of course.
Ginger tincture
In September, the freshmen were taken to the collective farm to harvest potatoes. There, childhood friends Khait and Barats found two new friends - Demidov and Larin. What brought them together was ginger bitters for 3.50, which the guys bought in the evenings in the nearest village. Sasha then got drunk for the first time. Sitting on the hand of the stone Lenin, he got drunk, fell on the asphalt, broke his face, and the next morning he began to tell everyone, pointing to bruises and scratches, that it was Barats and Khait who beat him. In retaliation, the next night, the boys took Sanya, who was sound asleep (after again ginger), straight from the bed to the women's toilet.
Red socks
Barats pulled them on when the school entrusted him with leading the prom. The boy thought he looked very cool in them. And Leonid borrowed the suit from his aunt’s husband. His friends still remember those stupid socks.
Bulb
She saved schoolboy Barats from long lessons in music school. Before the lesson, Lenya ate the whole head and, entering the teacher’s office, began diligently breathing an unpleasant smell onto it. The teacher’s patience lasted only 15 minutes.
Typos
At the beginning of their theater business, the guys were constantly haunted by funny typos in newspapers and posters. For example, instead of the play “These are just cliches,” “Only pants” was indicated, “the comic theater “Quartet I” was called “commercial,” and the surname “Hait” was written with an “th.”
Shameful embarrassment
Thanks to this incident, Rostislav Khait became friends with Leonid Barats forever. This happened in second grade. “Sorry, I screwed myself,” Slava admitted in an interview, “and asked Lesha not to tell anyone about it, but to quickly call my mother so that she would come and pick me up. After which he ran to class and told all the kids about my embarrassment. Each one came in turn to look at me. Here we have it, as Dovlatov said about his wife: “This is not love, but fate!”
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Raikhelgauz
Joseph Leonidovich, artistic director of the Moscow School of Modern Play theater, is a relative of Leonid Barats. Raikhelgauz is also from Odessa...
Sabelka
The only props that were available in the household of the newly created “Quartet I”. The artists performed the number “Butterfly and Grasshopper”. When the spider threw a web on the butterfly, Khait, a grasshopper with a saber, jumped out. “Nothing special, but for some reason people laughed,” notes Rostislav.
Ballroom pianist
He was played by Leonid Barats in the 90s in the video of the group “Combination” for the song “Accountant”. Also, by the way, Lesha (as Barats is called by his friends for some reason) appeared in those years in the video “Palms” by Svetlana Roerich, where the young Maxim Averin flashed in the background. And Kamil Larin “shone” at that time in the video “The Boy Wants to Go to Tambov” by Murat Nasyrov.
Black tuxedo for $500
At the beginning of his career, the artists chipped in and bought it (it was a lot of money back then) for Kamil, so that he could hold the wedding of some huckster there and at least earn something for the team. This was Larin’s first experience as an entertainer. Since then, the guys decided: we divide the money equally, even if we earn it separately. By the way, Kamil at one time also earned money by reselling juice and cognac to stalls - a friend from Armenia supplied him with cheap drinks.
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Scars on the wrists
They stayed with Demidov and Barats in memory of the unsuccessful group suicide that Sasha and Lenya started to prove to their classmate friends Sveta Pesotskaya and Anya Kasatkina how strong their feelings were. Fortunately, they didn’t get to the veins, but my hands were badly scratched and I had to walk around in bandages for several days.
"I forgive you!"
Demidov said these words four years ago to his own mother, who abandoned him at the age of seven. Sasha's parents separated shortly after his birth. The boy lived with his mother, grandmother and grandfather in Shadrinsk (200 km from Sverdlovsk). The old men drank heavily, and the boy was left to his own devices. After having breakfast with free whites and cocoa, which the grandmother sold, Sashka hung out on the street until late at night.
One day, a thin and dirty boy was accidentally met by another grandmother - on his father's side. She took Sasha to his father, who at that time worked as a policeman in Ryazan.
Demidov somehow briefly crossed paths with his own mother when he was already 12, then after a long break - in the mid-90s, having already become an artist. In those years, Alexander had many problems on the personal front; nervous breakdowns began to occur, after which he fell into depression for a long time. He saved himself with alcohol. In one of these difficult moments, he met with his mother and said: “I forgive you! And I don’t hold any grudges.” Then for the first time in many years he called her mom.
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
* The oldest of the “quartets” is Kamil Larin. He is almost four years older than the others. And all because before entering GITIS, he studied at the Volgograd Energy College.
* Everyone except Khait has two children: Barats has daughters Lisa and Eva, Larin has sons Yan and Daniyar, Demidov has daughter Sofia and son Ignat. Even director Petreikov had two daughters in four marriages.
* Leni Barats’ mother, Zoya Isaevna, who worked as a methodologist in a kindergarten for many years, taught Ksenia Sobchak to make delicious cheesecakes, which she now treats her husband Maxim Vitorgan to for breakfast.
* The most exemplary family man is Leonid Barats. I met my wife Anna Kasatkina, who in the early years was also an actress of the Quartet I theater, during the entrance exams at GITIS. “Seeing her in a gray tight-fitting short dress, I realized that we couldn’t be just friends,” recalls Baratz. Their marriage is 23 years old.
Quotes
Vladimir POSNER:
- I adore Quartet I because they can joke phenomenally without smiling!
Evgeniy GRISHKOVETS:
- They have confidence in their uniqueness, and this attracts!
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