*GASP!* Today, the world will be exposed to a strange new creation -- the unlikely mutant offspring of David Cronenberg and opera. Howard Shore's operatic adaptation of "The Fly," directed by Cronenberg and conducted by Plácido Domingo, will run July 2-13 at Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, then move to the LA Opera in September. At first listen, an operatic version of a classic science fiction film might seem unusual, but stranger movies, from "Dead Man Walking" to "Lost Highway," have already been performed as operas, and operatic adaptations of "Brokeback Mountain" and even "An Inconvenient Truth" are being developed. Genre literature has also proven ripe for operatic treatment, whether science fiction -- such as Margaret Atwood's dystopian "The Handmaid's Tale," Philip K. Dick's "Valis," and Ursula K. Le Guin's "Paradises Lost" -- or horror classics, like Philip Glass' take on Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher." Horror and sci-fi seem even more at home in the world of musicals. Joining popular shows like "Little Shop of Horrors," "Sweeney Todd," and "Rocky Horror" are such literary classics as "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," "Frankenstein" (and of course "Young Frankenstein"), and at least five musicals based on Bram Stoker's horror standby ("Dracula, The Musical," "Count Dracula, the Musical," "Dracul The Musical," plain old "Dracula," and, naturally, "Drakula The Rock Opera"). Musicals have also found inspiration in less lofty prose, from the tabloid-spawned "Bat Boy The Musical" to comics-inspired productions about Batman, Superman, and Spider-Man. And even more horror, sci-fi, and fantasy films have been reborn as musicals -- from "Evil Dead" to "Star Wars" to "Edward Scissorhands" to "The Silence of the Lambs" -- with varying degrees of success. Whether the operatic incarnation of "The Fly" ends up a monster hit like "Return to the Forbidden Planet" or just monstrous, like the musical version of "Carrie," we applaud its creators for their small but daring experiment, toying with the genetics of an old art form. Suggested Sites... The Fly The Opera - Plácido Domingo conducts Howard Shore's operatic take on the classic tale, with a libretto by David Henry Hwang and direction by David Cronenberg. Will The Fly Live up to its Buzz? - a feature on the creators and cast of "The Fly." Repo: The Genetic Opera - a musical/opera/cabaret about futuristic organ-transplant repo men. Silence! - the sick minds behind the "Silence of the Lambs" musical and "24: Season Two: The Musical." Bloody Disgusting - all things horror.

Directory categories: Opera, Musicals, David Cronenberg, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Horror

Archived under: Entertainment, Horror, Musicals, Opera, Performing Arts, Science Fiction

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