Keen to shed their country's violent past, hundreds of Lebanese patrons have been packing the Ivorie Theater this month for an evening of ancient Phoenician culture.
Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and other high-profile urbanites paid $100 a ticket to see "Allisar, Queen of Carthage," a ballet based on a 2,800-year-old legend - featuring a modern, Arab twist.Since the end of the country's 1975-90 civil war, Lebanon has undergone a resurgence of interest in its ancient past in a bid to reclaim its image as cultural capital of the Middle East.
Before the war, Lebanese stages featured a huge range of entertainers, both Western and Arab, including American jazz icon Ella Fitzgerald, Spanish superstar Julio Iglesias and the Arab world's classic singer Umm Kulthum of Egypt. Festivals in Baalbek, set amid Roman ruins in the eastern Bekaa Valley, attracted the world's rich and famous.
The civil war devastated much of Beirut and dulled its tremendous cultural vibrancy. Lebanese artists sought work in other Arab countries or in Europe.
Cultural events have burst back to life after their long hibernation.
Night clubs have reopened and foreign musicians have returned, and the capital now boasts nine plays, 10 art exhibitions and 19 movie theaters.
"Allisar, Queen of Carthage" blends popular Arab song and dance with the classical style and acrobatic leaps of modern ballet.