Musical Comedy Theater (Kharkov): history, address and repertoire

Kharkiv Musical Comedy Theater is one of the most famous cultural institutions of the second largest city in Ukraine.

Base

In 1929 the government of the Ukrainian Soviet Union issued a decree on the establishment in Kharkov of the Ukrainian State Musical Comedy Theater.

The troupe was based on the pupils of the famous director Les Kurbas Boris Balaban, Bogdan Kryzhanovsky and Januarius Bortnik. It was these actors who laid the traditions of the operetta in Kharkov.

The first main director of the theater was BorisBalaban, who created a premiere performance based on the plot and music "Orpheus in Hell" by Jacques Offenbach. A new libretto was written by Ostap Cherry, and composers A. Ryabov and Yu. Meitus supplemented him with new dance numbers and melodies. Design for the performance was created by artists S. Ioffe, P. Pogorely, A. Scheglov, N. Petrenko and B. Chernyshov.

The festival on the occasion of the opening of the theater and the premiere of the operetta "Orpheus in the Heat" was held on November 1, 1929.

History of the theater before WWII

In the 30s the Musical Comedy Theater (Kharkov) was engaged in"Modernizing" classical plays such as "Zaporozhets for the Danube", "Rose Marie", etc., representing the viewer of the traditional operetta repertoire (works of Kalman, Lehar, Strauss, etc.), as well as creating entirely new performances.

A real blow for the theater wasgovernmental decree on depriving Les Kurbas of the title of People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR. In addition, all his disciples were removed from leading posts, and a "struggle against formalism" began.

Formation of the repertoire

After the removal of Les Kurbas, the chief director of the musical comedy was Mikhail Awakh, who, among other things, had to fight bourgeois nationalism.

Contrary to the expectations of the powers that be, he beganhis activities as head of the theater with productions of the "neo-classical classics". Awash produced performances "Silva", "Maritsa", "Merry Widow" and "Bayadere". He attracted his more experienced colleagues D. Giusto and V. Rapoport to work.

The cooperation of Avacha withthe chief conductor of musical comedy by composer Alexei Ryabov. In 1935, they began to work on a performance based on the Sorochinskaya Fair, in which Gogol himself was brought to the stage as a character. The performance was a huge success and forever entered the history of Ukrainian theatrical art.

Another loud success was expected by the Musical Comedy Theater (Kharkov) in 1937, when the audience was introduced to the production of the May Night.

However, the real triumph was the premiere of the performance "Wedding in Malinovka", which for more than 70 years has not left the scenes of musical theaters in the entire space of the Soviet Union.

During the war years

Shortly before the occupation of the city, the Musical Comedy Theater(Kharkiv) were evacuated to Central Asia. Thanks to the dedication of Lesia Ivashutich, Isaac Radomyssky, Semyon Ioffe, Naum Sobol, Savva Solyashchansky and other members of the troupe, he continued to give presentations to refugees and military in cures in hospitals.

In Uzbekistan, based on local folklore,the performance "Khoja Nasreddin" was created. The theater performed in Bukhara, Ashkhabad, Termez, Fergana and in Frunze. However, the most fruitful were the tours in Samarkand, where they were visited by about 100 thousand spectators. Despite this, the collective eagerly awaited return to their native city. And it was triumphal!

After the war

In the 1950s, performances were staged "The Daughter of the Field Marshal", "The Maiden Trouble" "Viy", "May Night", "Sorochinskiy Fair", "Swatland at Goncharivtsi", etc.

The premiere of V. Mayakovsky's comedy "Klop" to the music of G. Yudin thundered throughout the Soviet Union, and the theater of musical comedy (Kharkov) became famous in 1964.

Great interest was caused by the production of the musicalRaymond Pauls "Sister Carrie", which in the early 80's carried out the director Alexander Barseghyan. Critics noted the innovation of the play, in which for the first time in the "frivolous" genre there were tragic features.

Among the unconditional achievements of the theater of the 8090's are the productions "Rhythm-ballet", "Bambi", "Juno" and "Avos", "Jesus Christ Superstar", "Monarch, harlot and monk", etc.

Repertoire of the Musical Comedy Theater (Kharkov) in the 21st century

The beginning of the new millennium was markedthe production of the cult musical "My Fair Lady" directed by Arkady Klein. He also breathed new life into the comedy "Sorochin Fairs" by A. Ryabov, returning it to the repertoire of the collective for the 200th anniversary of the birth of NV Gogol.

The Kharkov public enthusiastically met performances in the format of gala concerts "Vivat, Kalman!" And "All secrets of the operetta", as well as a children's revue "Visiting a Tale" by Alexander Drachev.

The Musical Comedy Theater (Kharkov), the poster of which is alwaysattracts interest from operetta fans, is proud of its talented soloists-vocalists Inga Vasilieva, Natalia Koval, Tatyana Gypsy, Eleonora Djulik, Alexei Andrenko, Irina Potolova and many others.

To date, viewers are invited to watch performances with their participation:

• "Merry Widow";
• "Beautiful Galatea";
• "The Mystery of Juan's House";
• "The tricks of Khanum";
• "Adventurers";
• "Matchmaking on Goncharovka";
• "The Princess of the Circus", etc.

Musical Comedy Theater (Kharkov): address

To see operettas and musicals, the list of whichpresented above, you should buy tickets at the checkout of the institution. It is located in the building of the theater, located at Blagoveshchenskaya Street (formerly Karl Marx), 32. You can get there, for example, by metro, after reaching the station at Privokzalnaya Square.

Now you know what is known and where the theater of musical comedy (Kharkov) is located. Tickets for his premieres are recommended to be booked in advance, as in such cases there is always a sold-out.