Brilliant Odessa bears the nickname of Southern Palmyra, one of the most beautiful cities of the Late Antique period, for good reason. In modern Odessa, just as once in the capital of the Palmyra kingdom, there are many monuments, about twenty museums and a dozen sacral buildings of different denominations. Only the number of local theaters did not reach the dozen. There are only 11 of them, but what kind of theaters! Each of them is as famous as the Bolshoi in Moscow or the Vienna Opera. One of the most interesting houses of Melpomene in Odessa is recognized as the academic Ukrainian Musical Drama Theater named after V. Vasilko.
Once this theater bore the name not of Vasiliy Vasilko, a famous Ukrainian creator of theatrical action, but of Sibiryakov, a famous patron of the arts in the Black Sea region. The theater was called Sibiryakov’s theater, and Mr. Maecenas was so fond of theatrical actions that he first became the entrepreneur of the company sponsored by him, and then decided to build premises for it. It was profitable in all respects. First, Mr. Sibiryakov stopped paying rent for the stage for performances of his own troupe. Secondly, the building with a stage could always be rented out to a touring group or the city government to celebrate, for example, the birthday of the Duke of Richelieu, who is considered the founding father of South Palmyra.
Mr. Sibiryakov approached the creation of his own theater quite thoroughly. In the historical center of Odessa — the current Paster Street, a plot of land was bought for building. The best architects in the city were invited to work on the project.
architects in the city — S.A. Landesman and N.I. Linetsky. In 1909 the building was completed, and since the result exceeded all expectations, the building of the theater was recognized as an architectural landmark and entered in the Protective Register under the number 620.
So, what awaits the spectator going to the performance at the Ukrainian Musical Drama Theater. At 15 Paster Street he will see a beautiful two-storey building, made in the pseudo-classical style favorite in the Russian Empire. Curiously, the exterior of the building is much more modest than its interior.
A high plinth, a wide staircase landing and three relatively small entrance doors testify to the reliability and so-called «merchant thoroughness» of the construction. From the point of view of the public saturated with beauty, such an obverse would be more suitable for a stock exchange or bank building. But let us not forget that the customer, Mr. Sibiryakov, was just an ordinary successful merchant, absorbed in the prime of his life by theatrical mysteries.
The first floor of the building is «divided» into nine logical parts by transversely fluted pseudo-columns. The height of the second floor is twice as high as the first floor. Nine giant arched windows, today reinforced with metal grilles, are inserted into the spans. A portal rises in the center of the roof. It is lined with bas-reliefs depicting the gods of the Greek pantheon, responsible for the theater and for art in general. There are 2 symmetrical portals on the edges of the roof, reminiscent of the Parthenon. Today the theater building is painted in gray, green and pale green.
The theater looks completely different from the inside. The foyer, the size of a medium-sized stadium, pleases the eye with the predominance of sunny, yellow-gold and white colors. On the floor is preserved set parquet. On the walls — moldings, bas-reliefs. From the ceiling hangs an antique, crystal, seven-tiered chandelier, which illuminates the hall in the most marvelous way. Four elegant balconies on the second floor are fenced with the most elegant wrought iron lattices. In the wall niches are busts of the founders and legendary artists who worked in the Sibiryakov Theater.
Having come on vacation to the Black Sea coast, you can watch one of the 26 performances present in the repertoire of the Ukrainian Musical Drama Theater. In addition to playing the famous actors in Ukraine, you can enjoy staying in one of the most attractive sights of Odessa — in the building of the theater, built by the gentleman who lost his head from Melpomene.