The musical theater is the pride of the city of Ivanovo. He has a rich history. To date, the repertoire of the theater is extensive and diverse. Talented artists are performing here, among whom are laureates and diploma winners of the Golden Mask, the highest theater award in our country.
Theater History
Musical Theater (Ivanovo) has existed since 1930. At first, it was a group that toured the Ivanovo region. In September 1931, a reorganization took place. The group turned into a mobile Ivanovo-Ascension Musical Comedy Theater. But the troupe did not have its own building for several years. In 1934, the regional executive committee and the presidium united the visiting group with the Regional Drama Theater, so the Regional Theater of Musical Comedy appeared. In 1935, he had his own building.
The first stationary performance of the theater was “Harry Domela”, the author of the music for which was A. Ashkenazi, and the librettist and director was V. Lensky, who was also the first art director. In 1936, the composition of the troupe changed significantly, young, but already experienced operetta artists came to the theater: M. Matveev, E. May, Z.D. Gabrilyants, K. Constant, N. Skalov and others. In the same year, the premiere of the production of “Servant” by N. Strelnikov took place.
Over time, the theater acquired its own face, built a repertoire, brought together interesting artists into a troupe. During the Great Patriotic War, actors in the propaganda brigades spoke at the fronts in front of soldiers and in hospitals in front of wounded soldiers and officers.
A special place in the creative life of the Ivanovo Theater of Musical Comedy is played by the operettas of V. Brushtein, who enjoyed great success with the audience and were generously gifted with rave reviews from the press, not only local, but even the capital. The performances shocked with their plastic expressions of verse speech, the poets themselves, for example A. Voznesensky, expressed enthusiasm for this. In 1986, the theater received regional status. And since 1987 he moved to a building owned by the Palace of Arts, where it is still located.
Theater building
A theater was built on the site of the male
Pokrovsky monastery, which was founded by the princes Cherkassky in 1579 in their village of Ivanovo. Initially, all the monastery buildings were wooden, they were dilapidated. In the 19th century, in their place appeared an ensemble of two already stone churches - Pokrovsky and Trinity. An almshouse for orphans and widows was built nearby.
Gradually, the village of Ivanovo grew and merged with the Ascension Posad, resulting in the formation of the city of Ivanovo-Voznesensk. In 1931, Pokrovsky and Trinity Cathedrals were demolished, and the theater building grew in their place. The architect for the design of the premises was selected by competition, in which 11 specialists took part. Among their projects was a very original one, the author of which was Ilya Golosov. The scheme of the Musical Theater (Ivanovo), which he proposed, resembled a TV in its form. As a result, the project was chosen by Alexander Vlasov, who soon after became the main architect of Moscow.
The construction of the building was completed in 1940. After 8 years, the theater was renovated, and after 20 years, a large-scale reconstruction was carried out in it. All this happened because the wooden floors rotted, the foundation was weak, and moreover it was constantly washed by a stream. In 1987, another reconstruction took place, after which the theater added more halls - now there are four of them - for the musical theater, for the drama, for the puppet and for the Green night club. Now the building is proudly called the Palace of Arts.
In 2008, a new repair was carried out, now the floors and ceilings were changed. In 2009, the lobby was restored, and a new, modern sound equipment was purchased. In 2011, the facade was updated, chairs were replaced, new lighting equipment was purchased. The Musical Theater (Ivanovo) contains a little less than one and a half thousand spectators. The layout of the hall is presented in this article below.
Actors
Musical Theater (Ivanovo) is a large team of talented professionals. Over 30 soloists and vocalists work here, many of whom are laureates and diplomas of competitions and festivals, including the Golden Mask national theater award (Alexander Menzhinsky and People's Artist of Russia Irina Sitnova). Seven actors have the title of Honored Artist of the Russian Federation. The ballet troupe is represented by talented dancers in the amount of twenty-one. The theater also has 19 choristers and 28 orchestras.
Creative team and leadership
The Musical Comedy Theater (Ivanovo) today operates under the direction of Yuri Vladimirovich Serkov. The main director is Natalia Vladimirovna Pecherskaya. The main conductor is Arkady Lvovich Lodyzhensky. The main choreographer is Lisovskaya Valentina Evgenievna. The main artist is Valentina Vasilievna Novozhilova. The chief choirmaster is Godlevskaya Svetlana Konstantinovna. The head of the literary and dramatic part of the theater is Irina Skvortsova. The concertmasters are Olga Aleksandrovna Vinogradova and Serafima Yakovlevna Sigalova. There are also six decorators, four dressers, two fashion designers, seven tailors, three props and other creative workers.
Repertoire
The repertoire of the Musical Theater (Ivanovo) is diverse, which is called "for every taste." Here you can enjoy the classic foreign and Russian operetta, ballet performances, children's musical tales, modern vaudeville, musical performances.
Here are presented:
- Musical performance "Hanuma" (G. Kancheli).
- Children's musical performance "The Flying Ship" (V. Vadimov).
- Children's musical "Bremen Town Musicians" (G. Gladkov).
- Operetta "Silva" (I. Kalman).
- Operetta “Mr. X” (I. Kalman).
- The musical The Phantom of Canterville Castle (V. Baskin).
- Musical comedy “The True Story of Lieutenant Rzhevsky” (V. Baskin).
- The ballet Star of Paris (M. Vasiliev).
- Musical comedy “Donna Lucia, or Hello, I am your aunt” (O. Feltsman).
- The operetta "White Acacia" (I. Dunaevsky).
- Children's musical “The Same Cat” (N. Prokin).
And this is not the whole list of performances that the Public Theater of Ivanovo offers the public.
Touring activities
The Musical Comedy Theater of the city of Ivanovo is actively touring and travels to different cities of Russia. At that time, when the hall of the Musical Theater (Ivanovo) was under reconstruction, the troupe worked mainly in a visiting mode. During this time, artists visited cities such as Lipetsk, Nerekht, Zelenograd, Rybinsk, Teikov, Bryansk, Dzerzhinsk, Kovrov, Volgorechensk, a number of cities in the Ivanovo region, etc. The performances that the theater has taken on tour recently:
- "Wedding in Robin";
- "Flying ship";
- Donna Lucia;
- The Gipsy Baron.
Reviews
On its official website, the Musical Theater (Ivanovo) provided its public with the opportunity to leave reviews. The audience notes that the theater’s repertoire is very diverse, spectators of all ages and with any tastes will always find something interesting here.
Performances are watched in one breath. Emotions after visiting the theater remain only the most positive. Here you can enjoy the classic foreign and Russian operetta, ballet performances, children's musical tales, modern vaudeville, musical performances, so popular musicals today. Everyone who has already attended at least one performance of the theater, recommend becoming its audience. The most beloved and popular performances among the public: "Hanuma", "Silva", "The Flying Ship", "Wedding in the Robin" and "The Bat".
Address
Musical Theater (Ivanovo) is located on Pushkin Square, in house number 2. Nearby is the Trinity Church, the Uvod River. The theater is surrounded by Lenin Avenue and Krutitskaya Street.