CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- South Carolina's Dock Street Theatre is open after an $18 million renovation and the Spoleto Festival USA is celebrating the occasion.
The festival, which uses the theater, holds a $250-a-ticket gala on Thursday at the Charleston theater.
The original Dock Street was built in 1736 and was the nation's first theater. It burned down and several replacement structures occupied the site over the centuries.
The theater was renovated in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration while the latest renovation includes everything from new wiring and plumbing to seismic upgrades.
The Spoleto festival this year is reviving "Flora," the first opera performed in the American colonies. This year's Spoleto opens May 28 and runs through June 13.
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