Saturday, February 19, 2011

Anna Nicole Smith: The Opera!


Ms. Anna has made it the theater! An opera based on the life story of the former Playboy model who married an elderly billionaire and tragically died of an overdose at the age 39 will now have her story told on the stage. According to CNN.com:

The life of the Texas-born stripper who married a multi-millionaire more than 60 years her senior, then spent the rest of her life fighting his heirs over his money after he died, might not seem to belong on the same stage that hosts Verdi and Puccini.



But the more Mark-Anthony Turnage and Richard Thomas looked into the life of the reality TV star, the more convinced they were that it was the stuff of opera.


"She wasn't just this dumb blonde," said Turnage, the composer. Her life "touches on so many things, it seemed to encapsulate the 21st century."


"She is fame incarnate," said Thomas, the lyricist, who's most famous for turning Jerry Springer's trashy TV talk show into an opera.


Both men see Smith's beloved son Daniel as a key part of her life, with Thomas describing her as a single mother "doing anything she could to look after her son.


"It's a very universal story," Thomas said. "I wanted to tell a story about a single mom. She makes some good choices. She makes some bad choices. Then she runs out of choices."


Thomas and Turnage fell for Anna Nicole while writing the opera, they say.


"I hope it comes through that we as writers love her," the composer said.

I can only imagine what an aura based on her infamous "Trim Spa baby!" commercials would sound like. Carmen this is not, but people have been flocking to the theater, as all six performances at London's Royal Opera House have sold out. Read the whole article here.

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