A gala concert from the reopening ceremony of Russia’s Bolshoi Theater will be broadcast live on TV, as well as in world 600 cinemas, the theatre’s head said on Friday.
Moscow is near to finish 6-year reconstruction of the nearly 200 year-old theater, famous for its trademark Tchaikovsky’s ballets, Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker.
Bolshoi chief Andrei Iksanov said President Dmitry Medvedev and other world leaders had been invited to the October 28 ceremony.
Iksanov said the gala would be broadcast on Russia’s main TV channels and 600 cinemas across the globe. It will also been shown on a screen in front of the Bolshoi.
Since the Bolshoi’s reconstruction started in 2005, the project has been marred by repeated schedule delays, as well as fraud allegations. Russian prosecutors opened a probe in 2009 into the suspected embezzlement of millions of dollars during the renovation.
The theater has been running performances in the Choral, Round and Beethoven halls, where reconstruction work has already been completed, since 2010. Reconstruction work on the main foyer, the facade and the square in front of the theater is also complete.
By October, the theater should have a new back stage, extra foyers and cafeterias, and underground premises that will also accommodate spacious storage for stage decorations. The reconstruction work is expected to provide an extra 50,000 square meters.