Bolshoi gets facelift after 150 years

Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre is getting its first facelift since the current building was reconstructed in 1865

By CNN Moscow Bureau Chief Jill Dougherty

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- In Russian, "bolshoi" means "big" -- and everything about the Bolshoi Theatre really is larger than life.

The vast hall, with its gilt stucco molding, has seats for more than 2,000 people -- including the box where czars, commissars and presidents have sat.

The stage, one of the biggest in the world, is alive with the spirits of artists who have sung and danced there since the theatre was founded in 1776.

But behind the curtain -- where the audience cannot see -- is a theatre that hasn't had a facelift since the present building was rebuilt in 1856.

VIDEO CNN's Jill Dougherty talks with the director of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow about the renovations the 150 year old theater will undergo (January 21) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

Hand cranks are still used below stage to raise and lower ballerinas. And some of the wiring hasn't been touched since it was installed after World War I.

Now the Bolshoi is about to undergo its first major renovation -- a three-year project estimated to cost $180 million, financed by the Russian government.

The biggest worry for the Bolshoi is how to bring the theatre into the 21st century technically without destroying its 19th century atmosphere -- what makes it one of the greatest theatres in the world.

Some things will be preserved, like the incline of the stage -- which tilts toward the audience. Dancers unaccustomed to it feel as if they're spinning into the orchestra pit.

And the Russian bells, 36 of them, will still be there, ready for another performance of the opera "Boris Godunov."

It's also crucial to preserve the theatre's world-famous acoustics, says Bolshoi General Director Anatoly Iksanov.

"The theatre's acoustics are created by the walls. The sound reflects from them onto the stage and into the hall. As soon as you change those walls, you change the sound," says Iksanov.

Behind the main stage, the Bolshoi will build a second stage that can be designed and then moved forward, so the theatre won't have to close for a week before premiers.

Ballet producer Alexander Grant -- himself a famous dancer -- says it's the soul of the Bolshoi that should be preserved.

"The actual fabric of the theatre I know and hope they will keep, because the traditions are so terrific in this great theatre," says Grant.

Audiences will be able to enjoy the Bolshoi even during renovation, which will be done in stages.

At the very end of the project the theatre will close for a season, then re-open -- a new Bolshoi for a new century.