P189 - Singapore - Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay

Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay, Singapore

Marina Bay is a bay near Central Area in the southern part of Singapore, and lies to the east of the Downtown Core. An artificial bay, it was formed when land reclamation created the Marina Centre and Marina South areas, which form a body of sheltered waters of what was once open sea. In the reclamation process, Telok Ayer Basin was removed from the map, while the Singapore River's mouth now flows into the bay instead of directly into the sea. A barrage was completed in 2008 to make Marina Bay a reservoir for drinking water.

In contemporary local common usage, however, the term Marina Bay has largely been attached to the developments in the vicinity of Marina Mall in the Marina South reclaimed area, particularly to the eateries found there. Although technically erroneous, this association may have been stemmed from the association of the venue's limited accessibility to the Marina Bay MRT Station, which has served as the main means of public transport to Marina South.

It was announced in 2007 that Marina Bay will play host to a Formula One Race. The inaugural Singapore Grand Prix took place on September 28 2008 on a street circuit through Marina Bay. It was the first ever Formula One Grand Prix to be staged at night, with the track fully floodlit.

The Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay (simplified Chinese: 滨海艺术中心) is a waterside building located on six hectares of waterfront land alongside Marina Bay near the mouth of the Singapore River, purpose-built to be the centre for performing arts for the island nation of Singapore. Taking its name from the nearby Esplanade, it contains a 1,600 seat concert hall and a 2,000 seat theatre for the performing arts.

The library@esplanade is located on the third floor of the building. There are outdoor performing centres, and retail and food space at the Esplanade Mall. There is an outdoor open space on the fourth floor of the building.

濱海藝術中心是新加坡首屈一指的表演藝術地點。它因造型獨特的圓頂而被新加坡人取了個既親切又貼切的綽號－－“榴槤” (榴槤是一種帶刺的熱帶水果))。

俯視著濱海灣的濱海藝術中心內，有一座1,600個座席的音樂大廳、一座2,000個座席的劇院、大大小小的朗誦室、劇場和排練場，還有戶外表演空間。藝術中心內還設有購物中心、世界各地風味的餐館以及新加坡的第一間藝術圖書館－－濱海藝術中心圖書館(library@esplanade)。圖書館內收藏了大量關於音樂、舞蹈、電影和戲劇的文學典籍和多媒體資料。

在濱海藝術中心裡上演了大量的本土和國際演出，從音樂劇、演唱會到舞蹈和戲劇，戶外演出和午餐演唱會等更提供了貼近大眾的娛樂表演。

References sources : wikipedia, 非常新加坡