The modern theater building was erected by Carlo di Giovanni (Carl Ivanovich) Rossi. Originally from Naples, this talented man, along with his mother, a ballet dancer and stepfather — a famous French ballet dancer found himself in St. Petersburg at the invitation of the imperial ballet troupe during the reign of Catherine II. Rossi is famous for its masterpieces and engineering solutions. For the first time, the use of metal trusses for the first time was used at the Alexandrinsky Theater. As Rossi himself said: “If any misfortune occurs from the arrangement of metal rafters of the theater, then, as an example for others, let them immediately hang me on one of the rafters”. Translated with Google Translate