Instead of opening the show with the famous dance prelude at thefairground, Hytner brought the curtain up on the claustrophobic, shadowy New England textile mill where Julie Jordan and her friend Carrie Pipperidge work.
And in Cardiff, more than 50, 000 people gathered in the streets around the civic centre to watch bands, take a turn on thefairground rides or take to the ice in the council's Winter Wonderland rink.