Libretto by Ursel Scheffler and Natalia Baranovskaya, based on the fairy tale by Carlo Collodi

Director: Natalia Baranovskaya

Musical director: Vladimir Ovodok

Chorus master: Sergey Agranovich

Designer: Lyubov Sidelnikova

Choreography: Sergey Mikel

Lighting designer: Maksim Zhulev

Computer graphics: Sergey Novitsky

Chorus masters of Children's Musical Theatre Studio: Alla Vasilevskaya, Elena Sokolovskaya

Conductor: Yuri Karavaev

Sung in Russian with Russian surtitles

Running time: 1 hour 55 minutes with one interval

Premiere: 19, 20 December 2020

Prologue

Mischievous angels forget about the mission assigned to them by Father Christmas – to light the stars on Christmas night. The appearance of a good wizard interrupts the game. Together, they get to work. Obeying the amazing power of the staff of Father Christmas, the great Tree of Life comes to life. The angels and Father Christmas admire the results of their efforts. The Sandman, a messenger of the dark forces, appears. The angels run to meet the new inhabitant of the fairy tale. The Sandman wants to harm the forces of light: to destroy the Tree of Life. Father Christmas and his young friends fight with him, but the cunning villain puts the heroes to sleep. The appearance of the Fairy of Stars disrupts the Sandman’s plans, and he fails to complete what has been conceived. Father Christmas and the angels come to their senses and rush to the Tree of Life. It can be saved, and a beautiful wooden marionette can be made from a thick branch broken through the fault of the villain.

Act I

Scene 1

Old Geppetto, a doll master, returns home with a bag full of toys that he again has failed to sell. For many months, his business has been going from bad to worse. There isn’t a crumb of bread left in the house. The old man is desperate. The little angels throw a magic log on the doorstep of Geppetto’s room. The master immediately sets to work. The marionette is ready! The old man asks the Fairy of Stars to perform a miracle and bring Pinocchio to life. Geppetto goes to bed. The sorceress grants the master’s wish. She puts a part of her soul into the puppet, and Pinocchio comes to life.

The Fairy explains the rule of the game to Pino: in order to become a human, he needs to understand the difference between Good and Evil and to learn to help people. However, the talking marionette has other plans for life: Pino wants to conquer the world. The wooden boy escapes, without hearing out the Fairy’s instructions. The sorceress calls on a Cricket for help. His task is to teach the wooden boy good manners and help him in good deeds. But Pino does not want to listen to the advice of a bug! He believes that he knows everything better than anyone else and drives away the unsolicited adviser.

Geppetto is incredibly happy: fate has sent him consolation in his old age. Now he has a son! However, Pino is not yet able to appreciate the sacrifices that Geppetto makes to feed and teach him. He wants to have fun and play. That’s why he goes to the puppet theatre instead of school. Pino exchanges the ABC book that Geppetto has procured for a ticket and gets to a puppet show. During the performance, something unexpected happens: one of the puppets breaks. Pino rushes to help: he replaces the broken puppet and thus saves the theatre’s director Karabas Barnabas from ruin. The show continues, despite the attempts of a Cat and a Fox to disrupt the performance and make money on it. Karabas Barnabas gives Pino five gold coins. The puppet theatre leaves.

Scene 2

The Cat and the Fox decide to outwit Pinocchio and steal the money. The villains trick the wooden boy into believing that they are his best friends. The Cricket can’t stop the villains. Pino chases the Cricket away.

An ice cream cart appears on the stage. This is how the sly Sandman looks out for future inhabitants of the land of illusions – children who love sweets, are naughty and do not obey their elders. This is the kind of children who get to Wonderland and stay there forever.

Pino, the Cat and the Fox go to the inn for a snack. The Fox puts sleepy powder in the drink; Pino drinks it and falls asleep. The Cat and the Fox steal the food and run away from the inn. The Innkeeper passes on a message from them: his so-called friends will be waiting for Pino near the Old Pine Tree.

Scene 3

After paying the Innkeeper for the banquet, Pino goes to the meeting place. The Cricket follows him relentlessly. Pino drives his friend away again, but night falls, and the heroes decide that it will not be so scary if they stay together. Nevertheless, the Cricket gets frightened and runs away, leaving Pino alone.

The Cat and the Fox come to the meeting. The cheaters reveal a terrible secret to Pino: how to become rich overnight. Foolish Pino takes the villains’ bait. They rob the wooden boy and hang him from the tree.

Act II

Scene 1

The angels rush to help Pino. They bring the Cricket to the scene of the tragedy and take the wooden man down from the tree. The Cricket tries to bring Pino to his senses. Pinocchio comes to life. Now he has learnt his first serious lesson and realized his mistake. The Cricket is happy.

But it does not last long. The Sandman lures Pino to Wonderland. Our hero does not listen to the Cricket and again goes off, looking for adventures. With the help of magic, the Sandman takes everyone to Wonderland. You can do anything you want here! Here the children fight, swear, and even drink wine, and as the result ... they become donkeys. The Cricket and the Fairy help Pino escape from Wonderland. The illusion crumbles.

Geppetto looks for his son everywhere. He cannot find him it on land, so the old man goes out to sea. The angels tell Pino that his father is in danger. A violent storm blows up. Pinocchio throws himself into the sea. Together with his father, he becomes the prey of a Whale.

Pino comes to his senses in the belly of the Whale and watches his fellow victims: sea inhabitants and sailors swallowed by the Whale long ago. Pinocchio saves everyone by sacrificing himself.

Scene 2

The sea washes up the bodies of Pino and Geppetto. The Cricket mourns the dead. The Fairy appears, calms him down and explains that by sacrificing himself to save his father, Pino has proved that he is worthy of becoming a human. The marionette turns into a real boy. Everyone is happy. Realizing their mistakes, the Cat, the Fox and the Sandman come to confess their guilt, and the good heroes give them a second chance.