Grand Canal Theatre, Ireland's World Class Theatre
Opened its doors - Thursday 18 March 2010
Russian State Ballet featuring stars from the Bolshoi
performed Swan Lake on opening night .
Ireland's brand new 2,111 seat Grand Canal Theatre opened its doors for the first time on March 18th with a stunning performance of Swan Lake performed by the Russian State Ballet featuring stars from the Bolshoi. The opening night was attended by stars from the worlds of the arts, sport, music, film, politics and business including Brendan Gleeson, Alison Doody, Gay Byrne, Derek Mooney, David McWilliams, Marian Finucane, Gerry Ryan, Jackie Lavin, Bill Cullen, Paul Brady, Mario Rosenstock, Anne Doyle, Rebecca Miller, Kathryn Thomas, Norma Smurfitt, John Kelly, John and Odette Rocha and architect Daniel Libeskind.
"We are delighted to be opening the doors of the Grand Canal Theatre and are honoured that Uachtaráin na hÉireann agreed to be our guest of honour tonight," stated Stephen Faloon, General Manager. "The capacity of the venue means that we will be able to ensure that the people of Ireland will be able to see world class productions at a reasonable ticket price. Large scale productions like Whistle Down The Wind, the Andrew Lloyd Webber classic, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Hairspray starring Michael Ball and One Night In Istanbul are already on sale and the Scottish Opera will be bringing their very first production, La bohème to Dublin in June."
The evening was a tremendous success and the Russian State Ballet's performance was incomparable. All present were wowed by the remarkable design of the building which combined the trademark raked angles of Daniel Libeskind's design with the traditional layout and colour scheme of the stunning auditorium.
"This was the first spectacular night of many here at the theatre" said Harry Crosbie, "and we are delighted to have opened our doors to welcome our very fist audience".
While the opening night brought many big names to the Docklands, the Grand Canal Theatre will ensure that the area continues to thrive as a cultural hub, which was key to the project from the start.
"Without the vision of the DDDA this project would never have started," explained Mike Adamson, CEO Live Nation Ireland. "They talked to us in 2003 to examine whether it would be possible to build and fill a theatre, rather than a concert venue, here in The Docklands. We explained to them how it could be done and they had the courage and insight to appoint Daniel Libeskind and theatre architects RHWL to come up with the design and developers Chartered Land to build it all."
Those attending took advantage of public transport including Bus, Rail, Luas and Dart services and the large number of car parks within a 2 minute walk from the venue.
With seven bars, the exclusive Circle Club and a stunning rooftop terrace bar with panoramic views over Dublin 4, the Grand Canal Theatre offers an unique guest experience, the like of which has not been encountered in Ireland before.
The Grand Canal Theatre is operated by Live Nation on behalf of the leaseholder, Harry Crosbie and was constructed by Chartered Land.
Ends
For further information:
Grand Canal Theatre: Kathy Doyle - kathy.doyle@grandcanaltheatre.ie
Edwina Shine - 01 674 2404/2405
Ger Kenny - 087 248 8393