Shanghai Grand Theatre

Shanghai Grand Theatre.

Shanghai Grand Theatre at night.

The Shanghai Grand Theatre (Chinese: 上海大剧院) is one of the largest and best-equipped automatic stages in the world. Since the theatre opened on August 27, 1998, it has staged over 6,000 performances of operas, musicals, ballets, symphonies, chamber music concerts, spoken dramas and various Chinese operas. The site is located at the intersection of Central Boulevard and Huangpi Road South in the northern part of the People's Square in Huangpu District, Shanghai, China. It is the home of the Shanghai Opera House Company; however, the title "Shanghai Opera House" officially applies to only the performing company and not to the building. The Shanghai Grand Theatre is also the resident for other performing companies.

Architecture

The Grand Theatre building is a landmark for the city Shanghai. With a total investment of 1.2 billion RMB, an area of 2.1 hectares and a total construction area of 70,000 sq. meters, SGT is home to three theatres inside: the Lyric Theatre with 1,800 seats, the drama theatre that can seat 600 and the studio theatre of 300 seats. All sound and lighting devices were sourced from world famous suppliers. The stage in the Lyric Theatre, which has an area of about 1,700 square meters, including main stage, rear stage and left/right side stages, is one of the world’s biggest, best equipped and most versatile automatic mechanical stages. Supporting facilities of the Theatre include the SGT Arc Banquet Hall (Sky Ball Room), Maxim’s, Box Office and a big underground parking lot.

The building’s distinctive architectural style was designed by ARTE Charpentier, a famous architecture design company founded by French architect Jean-Marie Charpentier. And its interior was designed by Studios Architecture. When the night falls, the light installations around the build make the site’s entire exterior resemble a crystal palace.

Awards

• ISO 9002 certified.
• “Organization with Social Responsibility” (for 3 consecutive times from 2000 to 2005).
• “National Demonstration Base for Cultural Industry” (2004).
• “National Advanced Cultural Organization” (2005).
• “Best Operated Theatre in China—Gold Prize” (2006) and “Base for International Publicity of the Municipality” (2008).
• Shanghai Grand Theatre has been a member of AAPPAC-Association of Asia Pacific Performing Arts Centres since 2000 and is elected as one of the Executive Committee (ExCo) members.

References

External links

• Official website

Coordinates: 31°13′55″N 121°28′01″E / 31.232°N 121.467°E