At $700m (£450.5m), it has divided opinion, with some criticising the modernist architecture and cost. President Vladimir Putin said it had "everything you need for a theatre". Addressing guests, Mr Putin paid tribute to the "boundless energy" of the theatre's ambitious director Valery Gergiev, whose 60th birthday coincided with the opening night.
Hop Farm Cancelled - The Hop Farm music festival has announced the cancellation of this year's event because of poor ticket sales. The festival had been due to take place in Kent on 5-6 July. It was due to be headlined by My Bloody Valentine and Rodriguez. Organiser Vince Power said in a statement: "We have worked very hard to try to make it work but it has proved too much a of mountain to climb." Others on the bill included The Horrors, Jimmy Cliff, The Black Angels, The Cribs and The Presidents Of The United States Of America. Ticket holders will receive a full refund from their ticket agents.
Edinburgh Update - The Studio - a 200-seat theatre in Edinburgh Festival Theatre's new rehearsal and educational building - will open for this year's Fringe, when it will be run by leading promoters Underbelly as a new venue, Topside. Building work on the £3m building, which is connected to the rear of the Festival Theatre stage, has just been completed. The theatre has been given the keys and internal fitting has started ahead of a soft launch at the end of June. Underbelly's head of programming Fiona McCurdy told The Stage: "It is really exciting to have a venue which has the stage size and technical capacity to take bigger shows that have already been touring. We can take them to Edinburgh and show them to a Fringe audience, but without losing intimacy."
Closing Time - Viva Forever!, the West End musical featuring songs from the Spice Girls, has announced that it will close on 29 June, following a run of little more than six months. The show, which is produced by Judy Craymer with a book by Jennifer Saunders, opened at the Piccadilly Theatre last December.
Following the success of Craymer's previous show Mamma Mia!, which is still running in the West End, it had been hoped that Viva Forever! would replicate the model of coupling an existing musical back catalogue with a new book. However, the Spice Girls musical was poorly received by critics and has reportedly struggled at the box office.
Sound of Change - Jennifer Lopez has been added to the line-up for The Sound of Change Live concert. Beyonce will headline the event at Twickenham Stadium in June in aid of Chime For Change. The charity campaigns for improved education, health and justice for women and girls worldwide. James Franco, Blake Lively and Jada Pinkett-Smith have been announced as presenters for the show, which is expected to last four hours. The Sound Of Change Live will feature performances from Florence + The Machine, Ellie Goulding and Rita Ora.
Theatre Appeal - The Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond has launched a fundraising appeal to save it from closure. The grade-I listed building, which was built in 1788, needs more than £100,000 to secure its future.
Beatles in Brazil - Sir Paul McCartney gave his first ever live rendition of a selection of classic Beatles tracks at the opening night of his world tour in Brazil. The singer performed tracks such as Your Mother Should Know and Lovely Rita on the first night of his Out There tour in the city of Belo Horizonte. The tour will include the US, Canada, Italy, Austria and Poland.
Farewell - Country singer George Jones has be
