Illusion “Lux”

We are on the corner of Uspenska and Utesova Streets, where another little corner of old Odesa has appeared.

It is a mural created by Odesa artist Tetyana Popovychenko. But it is painted as if you could now step through the slightly open door and enter the old Odesa cinema, “Lux” — which, incidentally, was actually located right here.

On the left is a poster for the film Condemned by You, starring Vera Kholodnaya. On the right is a poster advertising Leonid Utesov’s performance You’ve Got to Know How to Have a Good Time, featuring comic verses and marches from the play Mazeltov.

And above it all is the sign: “Illusion ‘Lux’.”

Yes, this cinema really was located right here, at the junction of Uspenska Street and what was formerly Triangular Lane. The lane is now named after our beloved “Ledечка” — Leonid Utesov — and is also home to the museum dedicated to him.

And, with the kind of humor you would expect in Odesa, the mural says:

“For the highly nervous and especially sensitive: nerve drops and smelling salts are available at the Utesov Museum.”