Abu Dhabi to host Gulf premiere of 'Aida'

(AFP)
Updated: 2007-03-17 09:18

A scene from "Aida" is performed on stage at Milan's La Scala Theatre in December 2006. Oil-rich Abu Dhabi will become the first Gulf Arab city to host a production of Verdi's "Aida" later this month as it forges ahead with a drive to become a top-notch tourism destination.

ABU DHABI (AFP) - Oil-rich Abu Dhabi will become the first Gulf Arab city to host a production of Verdi's "Aida" later this month as it forges ahead with a drive to become a top-notch tourism destination.

A 300-strong cast will perform the March 29 opera in the open air in the gardens of the Emirates Palace hotel in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, the official WAM news agency reported on Friday.

Up to 4,000 people will be able to attend a spectacle enhanced by hi-tech sound and special pyrotechnic effects, it said.

This will be the first time the famous opera has been performed in one of the conservative Muslim Gulf Arab states, WAM added.

Abu Dhabi is actively pumping petrodollars into a campaign to attract cultural icons as it looks to tap into a growing regional tourism market.

Earlier this month Abu Dhabi, the largest and wealthiest of the seven emirates comprising the UAE, signed a deal to establish a satellite of France's prestigious Louvre museum on a nearby island that will also host a Guggenheim museum of contemporary art.

Dubai, another UAE member, is already a thriving business and tourism hub.