Odessa Russian Theater - the oldest theater in the South of Ukraine, was built in 1874 as a temporary building for the performances of the troupe of the famous provincial actor and entrepreneur N.K. Miloslavsky. Before the revolution, touring drama, opera and operetta troupes performed on the stage of the theater. Such stars of the world stage as Sarah Bernhardt, Maria Zankovetskaya, Maria Savina played here. In Soviet times, the building was transferred to the team of the Russian Drama Theater, which from 1927 to 2015 bears the name of Andrey Ivanov, the chairman of the Odessa Provincial Executive Committee. In 2009, the Odessa Russian Theater was awarded the title of "Academic", and the building that houses the theater is a monument of history and architecture. The building has undergone several renovations over its more than 140-year history, the last of which took place in 2002.