Bolshoi's 'Snow Queen' a snow dream for children
俄罗斯《冰雪皇后》打造儿童冰雪之梦
It's a story of the struggle between good and evil. Moscow's acclaimed Bolshoi Theater is staging this eternal story as opera for children,based Hans Christian Anderson's 'The Snow Queen' It's called the 'The story of Kai and Gerda' and director Dmitry Belianushkin says it's not easy keeping a child entertained. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) PRODUCTION DIRECTOR, DMITRY BELIANUSHKIN, SAYING: "We tried to make the performance last not more than two hours, because a child of more than six years old is accustomed to the lesson of 45 minutes, then you have to give a break quickly. So we made it concise, compact and full of events." Svetlana Shilova plays the villain in the opera who says her character's traditional color was switched from blue to black and is intended to make the child audience think. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) ACTRESS, SVETLANA SHILOVA, SAYING: "Of course they will maybe ask themselves, first, 'why is she dressed in black?' Our Snow Queen is more cold and maybe even evil, so all this story of Kai and Gerda, told within two hours will make a child think. The performance will debut Friday and is sure to have some thrills and chills for the kids in the crowd.