Venue: Moscow Palace of Youth
Address: Комсомольский проспект, дом 28
Town: Moscow, RU

The Moscow Palace of Youth (Russian: Московский дворец молодёжи, romanized: Moskovsky dvorets molodyozhi), also called the Moscow Youth Palace or the MDM, is an entertainment complex in Moscow, located in the Khamovniki District above the Frunzenskaya metro station. The building was constructed in 1982-1988 according to the designs of architects Yakov Belopolsky, M. E. Belenya, Mikhail Posokhin and Vladimir Khavin. In 1972, architect Yakov Belopolsky, together with his colleagues F. M. Gazhievsky, Yuri Abramovich Dykhovichny and Roman Grigorievich Kananin, submitted a project for the Youth Palace in Moscow to a competition. However, the original appearance of the building was changed during the approval process: instead of a triangular building topped with a flying statue, a trapezoidal one surrounded by stairs appeared. Construction began in 1982 under the supervision of architects Belopolsky, Belen, Posokhin and Khavin, and was completed in 1988. Until 2002, the Large Hall of the palace hosted the KVN Major League games, then it began to be used as a venue for musicals. In the 2003-2004 season, the production company "Russian musical" organized performances of the musical 12 Chairs, which is based on the novel The Twelve Chairs by Ilf and Petrov. From 2005 to 2018, the main stage of the building featured many musicals by Stage Entertainment: Cats (2005-2006), Mamma Mia! (2006-2008, 2012-2013), Beauty and the Beast (2008-2010), Zorro (2010-2011), The Sound of Music (2011-2012), Chicago (2013-2014), The Phantom of the Opera (2014-2016), Dance of the Vampires (2016-2017), and Ghost (2017-2018). In 2014, for the premiere of The Phantom of the Opera, the palace's Large Hall was refurbished: its capacity was increased to 1,800 people, the acoustics were improved, the stages were deepened, new lighting and sound equipment was installed, and the fly bars were replaced. The marble portal of the central entrance to the auditorium, which had been located behind the small sta