The Bolshoi Theater in St.Petersburg closes July 1 for three years of reconstruction to transform it into a 21st century theater.

Yuri Melnikov, deputy chief of the state commission supervising the project, said he expects the cost would not exceed $1 billion.The 150-year-old house's backstage facilities will be upgraded, the orchestra pit modernized, backstage and storage space enlarged, and cafes improved for the theater's resident opera and ballet companies.

New ballet floors also will be installed.

Anatoly Ikasov, the Bolshoi's general director, told reporters the state of the theater was so "life threatening" that renovation could not be put off any longer.The project has been under debate for years, but had been held up by artistic and political infighting and haggling over architectural plans that would make any change in the neo-classical exterior of the house.

A re-opening date of 2008 is planned, according to Ikasov, and in the meantime the opera and ballet will use other theaters.The Bolshoi got a new stage last year and a new atrium annex next to the theater as the first stepts in the reconstruction.

News source: www.news.newkerala.com
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