Actor

(Born 11. 09. 1944)

Vadim Nikitin graduated from the Leningrad State Institute of Theater, Music, and Cinematography in 1969 (Professor V. Merkuriev and I. Meierhold’s class). He started his career at the Magnitogorsk Drama Theater named after A. Pushkin.

In 1974, Vadim Nikitin was admitted to the troupe of the Leningrad Academy Drama Theater named after Pushkin. He had played a long series of bit part roles, among which were Radnevsky (“The Rush Hour,” E. Stavinsky, 1974), Kuku (“Chichikov’s Philanderings” after N. Gogol, 1974), Conrad (“Much Ado About Nothing,” W. Shakespeare, 1975), Kuzma (“Fairy Tales of the Old Arbat,” A. Arbuzov, 1975), Green Bird (“The Green Bird,” C. Gozzi, 1976), and others. Vadim Nikitin managed to create memorable and complete characters even in small parts. Inventive and precise in selecting expressional means, each time, the actor created a generalized social type on the stage, never mind, be this Grisha Ugryumov in the people’s drama”The Non-Weeping Willow” by M. Alekseyev (1977), or a burger in the biographical drama “Rembrandt” by D. Kedrin (1977), Ulin in “The Thirteenth Chairman” by A. Abdullin (1980), or the chief of secret police Monsieur Gondureau in H. Balzac’s “Father Goriot” (1982).  No surprise that he managed to play several different roles in A. Hailey’s “Airport:” police lieutenant Ned Ordway (1978), oboe player of the Chicago Orchestra (1979), journalist Derrick Iden (1979), Chief Mechanic Joe Patroni (1983), and others. The theater intensively exploited the perfect looks of the actor: Vadim Nikitin had played on the Alexandrinsky Stage a great many roles requiring excellent soldierly smartness and fashionable veneer. Among these roles were Captain, Landlord and General (“The Captain’s Daughter” by A. Pushkin, 1984); Bedryaga, Alexander I, General Korovnitsin and Marshall Ney (“Filed Marshall Kutuzov” by V. Soloviev, 1985); De Valvert (“Cyrano de Bergerac” by E. Rostand, 1987), Officer (“Monsieur George. A Russian Drama” after M. Lermontov, 1994), Dion (“The Winter’s Tale” by W. Shakespeare, 1995), Nickolas I (“A Pair of Chestnuts” by A. Belinsky, 2000), and others.

The actor’s talent had fully revealed itself in the various character roles, demanding bright plastic and vocal characteristics. The scale of Vadim Nikitin’s character roles spreads out from Menelaus in Aristophanes’ comedy “Lysistrata” (Director Vladimir Golub, 1989) up to the fairy tale King “The First Ball of Cinderella” by Ye. Schwartz, Director Nora Reikhshtein, 1988), from Chernousy, Venichka’s occasional compotator in V. Yerofeyev’s poem “Moscow-Petushki” (performance “Jokers, or a Word of Approval of Sumarokov,” Director Nora Reichshtein, 1992) to Starodum and Skotinin in the “Ignoramus” by D. Fonvisin (Director Nora Reichshtein, 1999).   In the years of his work at the Alexandrinsky Theater, Vadim Nikitin played played over 80 roles.  

Presently, the actor’s repertoire includes the roles of Matsapoor in the performance The Inspector General By N. Gogol (Director Valery Fokin, 2002).

In the 1980s, Vadim Nikitin was on high demand not only as an actor; he also was the second director in such performances as Zubkov’s “A Monologue in a City Square” (1983); R. Solntsev’s  Slow Down in the Sky (1988); and Aristophanes’ Lisistrata (1989).

The actor had a long and fruitful career in the radio where he participated in recording of literary and theater programs and radio performances not only as an actor, but director as well.  Vadim Nikitin’s major works included radio series: “The Black Raven” (43 episodes); Royal Prisoner after Danilevsky’s novel “Mirovich” (48 episodes); “A Straight Jacket” after J. London’s novel “The Star Rover”  (29 episodes); “A Royal Courtesan” after D. Defoe’s novel “Roxana” (7 episodes); “The Secret of Golden Dustman” after C. Dickens’s novel “Our Mutual Friend” (125 episodes); “The Golden Chain” after A. Grin’s novel (20 episodes); “A Man Trap” after S. Lewis’s novel (22 episodes). Radio series after Eugene Sue’s “Ahasuerus” became one of his latest works (158 episodes).  In the 1990s, the actor was one of the hosts of the popular television program “Telecourier.” 

In the 1980s, not only Vadim Nikitin was highly demanded as an actor, but he also served as the second director at such performances as “A Monologue in a City Square” by G. Zubkov (1983), “Slowdown in the Skies” by R. Solntsev (1988), and “Lysistrata” by Aristophanes (1989).

The actor has been working on the radio for many years, where he had been taking part in the literary-theater programs and radio plays. A radio series “Le Juif Errant” (“Agaspher”) by Eug?ne Sue was among his latest works (158 episodes); Vadim Nikitin performed in it not only as an actor, but as a director as well. In the 1990s, Vadim Nikitin hosted a popular television show “Television Courier” at the national television channel TV5 broadcasting from St. Petersburg.