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| Sales up at Edinburgh's festival | Sales up at Edinburgh's festival |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| The Edinburgh International Festival is to open with a record £2m worth of tickets sold in advance. | The Edinburgh International Festival is to open with a record £2m worth of tickets sold in advance. |
| Online sales for the three-week festival featuring drama, opera, music, and dance are up 17% on last year. | Online sales for the three-week festival featuring drama, opera, music, and dance are up 17% on last year. |
| Organisers have had a race against time to reopen their flagship venue, the Usher Hall, which is in the midst of a multi million-pound redevelopment. | Organisers have had a race against time to reopen their flagship venue, the Usher Hall, which is in the midst of a multi million-pound redevelopment. |
| The work is not due for completion until next spring but the venue will be open for the duration of the festival. | The work is not due for completion until next spring but the venue will be open for the duration of the festival. |
| All those involved in getting it ready in time for Friday's opening concert - from carpenters and plasterers to electricians, painters and cleaners - have been invited to concerts over the next three weeks as a thank you. | All those involved in getting it ready in time for Friday's opening concert - from carpenters and plasterers to electricians, painters and cleaners - have been invited to concerts over the next three weeks as a thank you. |
| Festival director Jonathan Mills said: "The Usher Hall is in some ways our most important venue, so I really did not want to imagine a festival without it. | Festival director Jonathan Mills said: "The Usher Hall is in some ways our most important venue, so I really did not want to imagine a festival without it. |
| Borders have been redrawn in every direction and these borders are not just political, or geographic, but also cultural, social and even religious Jonathan MillsFestival director 'Exciting and challenging' journey | Borders have been redrawn in every direction and these borders are not just political, or geographic, but also cultural, social and even religious Jonathan MillsFestival director 'Exciting and challenging' journey |
| "It is a great relief and a great sense of excitement that the Usher Hall is up and running for yet another year of fantastic music-making." | "It is a great relief and a great sense of excitement that the Usher Hall is up and running for yet another year of fantastic music-making." |
| The opening concert - The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht - brings together the RSNO, the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, the ladies of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and eight soloists. | The opening concert - The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht - brings together the RSNO, the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, the ladies of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and eight soloists. |
| Actress Hannah Gordon is the narrator of the piece. | Actress Hannah Gordon is the narrator of the piece. |
| She said: "I just love working with musicians and singers and I've done nothing on this scale. | She said: "I just love working with musicians and singers and I've done nothing on this scale. |
| "I've done Peter and the Wolf a couple of times. I've done the Snowman and I just think the words and the music and the singing together is a wonderful combination." | "I've done Peter and the Wolf a couple of times. I've done the Snowman and I just think the words and the music and the singing together is a wonderful combination." |
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| Rehearsals in Edinburgh's Usher Hall | Rehearsals in Edinburgh's Usher Hall |
| The opening concert is already sold out, as are other shows such as the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Alfred Brendel and Gabriela Montero. | The opening concert is already sold out, as are other shows such as the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Alfred Brendel and Gabriela Montero. |
| Sales for dance shows have also been particularly strong. | Sales for dance shows have also been particularly strong. |
| Matthew Bourne's Dorian Gray is already the biggest selling dance show at the festival in a decade. | Matthew Bourne's Dorian Gray is already the biggest selling dance show at the festival in a decade. |
| Organisers said the re-telling of Oscar Wilde's Gothic fable could become the biggest dance event in the festival's 62-year history. | Organisers said the re-telling of Oscar Wilde's Gothic fable could become the biggest dance event in the festival's 62-year history. |