The guest of honour, President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, kept his thumbs to himself last night when attending the first show staged at the Colosseum for more than 1,500 years.
On a balmy July evening, the magical environs of ancient Rome's most famous and symbolic monument came alive to the sounds and music of the Greek National Theatre company's performance of the Sophocles classic, Oedipus Rex.
Even though the performance was in modern Greek and even though most of us know how the story ends, the "house full" sign was up long before last night's opening show. Just 700 tickets, 400 of them standing room only, were available for the performance.
This was the first event in a fortnight of entertainment at the Colosseum, which will also stage a version of Antigone by the Dramatic Arts Centre of Teheran as well as a concert of Mendelssohn's music, performed by Rome's resident Santa Cecilia Orchestra.
The Colosseum, in its prime, had a capacity of 55,000. The fact that last night's specially-conceived theatre had room for only 700 explains just how little of the huge historic monument has been used. Nonetheless, the wooden stage plus extended catwalk across the "floor" of the Colosseum made for a truly unique and dramatic setting.
Historians believe the last time the Colosseum opened its doors for a live show was for a series of gory fights between wild animals, back in the year 523. Commissioned by the Emperor Vespian in AD 72 and inaugurated by his son, Titus, in AD 80, the Colosseum, of course, is most famous for its bloody gladiatorial contests, currently recalled in the cinema box-office success, Gladiator.
In those days, "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" from the emperor meant life or death for a badly wounded gladiator. Last night, however, the glitterati restricted themselves to polite applause with both hands.
Promoted by the Italian Arts Minister, Ms Giovanna Melandri, who is keen to reassert the cultural importance of the oft-times forgotten Colosseum in modern-day Roman life, this fortnight may prove to be only the first of many such nights.
From fashion designers to publishing houses and record companies, they are queuing up for the chance to stage a show, concert or awards ceremony at the Colosseum.