Odesa Oblast Academic Drama Theater

The Odesa Oblast Academic Drama Theater (Odeskyi oblasnyi akademichnyi dramatychnyi teatr) is the oldest theatre in southern Ukraine. The theatre was constructed in 1874 at the initiative of A. C. Velikanov, a local merchant. Velikanov also intended to hire for Nikolai Miloslavsky’s company as the main performer for the theatre. Initially the theatre was called ‘’Theatre Velikanova’’ after his owner. However, in 1875 Velikanov sold the theatre to F. Rafalovich who renamed it “Russian Theatre”, name which it kept up to present. In the years before the Russian Revolution the theatre hosted the main theatrical events of the city. Many Russian, Ukrainian, German, French, Italian, drama, opera and peretta companies performed on its stage among which Sarah Bernhardt, Eleonora Duse, Benoît-Constant Coquelin, Jean Mounet-Sully, Maria Savina, Vladimir Davydov, Maria Zankovetskaya, Panas Saksagansky and Mark Kropivnitsky. After the Russian Civil War, the “State Odessa Russian Drama Theatre” was officially registered in 1926 and the building was allocated to this government owned entity. In 1927, the Executive Political Committee of the Odessa Governorate (Gubispolkom) appointed opera singer Andrei Alekseyevich Ivanov as director of the theatre. Today the theatre is also called the Ivanov Theatre. Important actors

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