Did "big" make a difference?

(Clockwise from top left) Lil' Brotha, Scar, Khujo Goodie, Janelle Monae and Sam Chris arrive at "big."

The new ballet, a collaboration between OutKast's Antwan "Big Boi" Patton and the Atlanta Ballet, premiered Thursday night to a packed house at Atlanta's 4,500-seat Fox Theater. The idea of pairing one of hip-hop's biggest stars with the often staid world of the ballet was innovative enough - but how would the audience react?

During the intermission hip-hop fans said the night would be a critical turning point for the artistic community. One man echoed a sentiment I heard throughout the night, saying it was time to "take the stigma of hip-hop off the streets and back onto the stage."

The night was pivotal to the ballet regulars, too. Many said the ballet community was feeling a lag, with attendance numbers dropping and a lack of enthusiasm. If putting a hip-hop star on stage performing with a live band reinvigorated the ballet community, most were all for it.

One 75-year-old woman I spoke to observed she had no idea who Big Boi was or what any of his songs were saying - but it didn't matter. Seeing a room filled with children, teens and young adults at the ballet. ­That was priceless, she said.

Indeed, one of the most telling signs of "big's" success was the number of families in the audience. As parents ushered their kids to their seats, one father told me he never goes to the ballet; his wife and daughters usually go, but he and the boys stay at home. But tonight, he said, he was going to be there.

The audience's enthusiasm was evident throughout the evening. It seemed if the crowd would jump up any moment to dance along with the show, which at times gave off more of a concert vibe than a ballet. Stifled by perhaps the more subdued atmosphere of the Fox, many chose instead to dance in their seats.

And no classical show I've ever been to has ended with the cast on stage and some of the youngest performers tearing it up with their freestyle dance. As the entire audience rose to its feet, howling and applauding, Big Boi broke out one of OutKast's biggest hits: "I Like the Way You Move." Move they sure did, and moving it was.

- Mallory Simon, CNN.com Writer

A swarthy man in black pants and a ruffled shirt walked into the room.

Scott Weiland and Dean DeLeo perform at the Stone Temple Pilots show Monday night.

"Are you the fire eater?" asked the bass player of Stone Temple Pilots.

"Yes. Are you Robert DeLeo?" replied Ted the Fire Eater.

And that pretty much summed up the carnival atmosphere Monday night at Los Angeles’ Houdini Mansion, once the home of the famed magician, where a Fellini-esque assortment of contortionists, sword swallowers and waiters serving up hot dogs and churros set the stage for the return of the Stone Temple Pilots.

But then everything surrounding the band has been a three-ring circus.

Monday night's private event in Laurel Canyon officially announced STP's first national tour in eight years. They'd been broken up for five, after several years of alternately pumping out hits and trying to hold it together during Scott Weiland's well-publicized battle with drugs.

In 2008, the mood backstage is quite different than it was during the Grammy-winning quartet's tumultuous heyday. Guitarist Dean DeLeo - who's struggled with his own demons - will notch his fourth year of sobriety in a few days. Their happy-go-lucky drummer, Eric Kretz, is even happier these days, with a wife and young child. In the meantime, Robert DeLeo's angelic two-year-old son, Duke, walked in, sporting a miniature peace-sign shirt. He serenaded the room with "It's a small world after all," perfectly on-pitch. His father groaned and mumbled something about how he'd better not grow up and become a singer. Weiland glanced over, unfazed.

Outside, 300 radio contest winners and VIPs gathered in front of a platform draped with bunting. It looked like a life-sized marionette stage - a giant toy strangely nestled among the trees in the middle of a residential community. The band was scheduled to perform at 8:15 p.m. Just before 9, STP casually strolled onto the stage. Weiland spoke into the mic.

"Sorry to keep you waiting - for five years," he said.

They also apologized for Ted the Fire Eater, saying the fire marshal wouldn't allow him to do his thing.

A sea of cell phone cameras immediately popped up as the reunited Stone Temple Pilots launched into the slow, psychedlic groove of 1994's "Big Empty." For the next 30 minutes, they presented faithful renditions of some of their biggest hits, including "Plush," "Lady Picture Show" and "Interstate Love Song." Weiland leaned into Dean's back during a guitar solo on one song; he draped an arm around Robert's shoulders during another.

The set abruptly ended at 9:30 - a victim of the local noise ordinance. Amid chants of "S-T-P! S-T-P!," the four bandmates returned to the stage for a bow, their arms linked. Fans will just have to wait for their 65-date tour for a real encore. Like Ted the Fire Eater, Stone Temple Pilots are waiting for their chance to truly ignite once again.

- Denise Quan, CNN Entertainment Reporter

Check out Denise Quan's one-on-one interview with the Stone Temple Pilots on CNN Headine News and CNN.com this weekend.