Daniel Libeskind's design for Dublin's Grand Canal Theatre, which opened on Thursday. (Daniel Libeskind)The curtain rose on celebrity architect Daniel Libeskind's Grand Canal Theatre Dublin on Thursday night with a performance of Swan Lake by the Russian State Ballet with stars from the Bolshoi Ballet.

The spectacular 2,100-seat theatre is a dramatic addition to the development of the Irish capital's Docklands area on the edge of the financial district. The angular steel-and-glass building has a prominent site at the head of Grand Canal Dock and forms the main façade of a large public square that will be used for civic events.

Libeskind, who is based in New York, designed the Micheal Lee-Chin Crystal, the controversial 2007 addition to Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum. He also did the 2003 design study for the World Trade Centre site in New York and created extensions to the Denver Art Museum and the Jewish Museum Berlin in Germany.

Designs by New York-based architect Daniel Libeskin are often controversial. (Uwe Lein/Associated Press)Operated by Live Nation Entertainment, the international producer of live concerts, the $112-million Cdn, commercially backed Grand Canal Theatre, with its multi-level lobby and rooftop bar, is a bold contrast to Ireland's state-run theatres. They've all been hit by funding cuts announced in the Irish government's recent austerity plan as the country struggles to recover from a recession that saw its economy shrink by 10 per cent last year.

Mike Adamson, CEO of subsidiary Live Nation Ireland, told Reuters he expects ticket sales will be brisk at the new venue.

"It's one of the last things [people] look at cutting out," he said. "It's not a constant cost."

About 120,000 tickets have been sold for a variety of shows at the new theatre. They include Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, Whistle Down the Wind.