Profile
Photos
Comments
In this photo released by the Chatelet
theater on Tuesday, July 1, 2008, Canada's Daniel Okulitch performs in a scene
of The Fly directed by David Cronenberg in Paris, France. Cronenberg's 1986
horror flick "The Fly" has undergone a strange metamorphosis, and now it's an
opera. The new incarnation of "The Fly," with tenor Placido Domingo conducting
the orchestra and Academy Award-winning composer Howard Shore behind the score,
isn't as gory as the original. (AP Photo/Chatelet Theater, Marie Noelle Robert,
HO)
By ANGELA DOLAND
Associated Press Writer
PARIS (AP) - Be afraid, be very afraid: David Cronenberg's 1986
horror flick, "The Fly," has undergone a bizarre metamorphosis. It's now an
opera.
The new incarnation, with tenor Placido Domingo conducting a score by
Oscar-winning composer Howard Shore ("The Lord of the Rings"), isn't as gory as
the movie. Audiences will be spared close-ups of the title character's
fingernails falling off as he makes the transition from mild-mannered scientist
to giant insect.
Still, for an opera, it's pretty scary _ even if there are touches of dark
humor. Giggles broke out among those invited to Monday's dress rehearsal when a
mezzo-soprano belted out the film's catchphrase: "Be afraid. Be very
afraid."
Cronenberg, who is directing the opera, wasn't sure what effect it would
have.
"Someone's 6-year-old said, after seeing one of our rehearsals, that she
thought she would have to sleep with her parents for a while," he told
reporters. "So I guess it's working."
The opera will have its world premiere Wednesday at Paris' Theatre du Chatelet and its
U.S. premiere Sept. 7 at
the Los Angeles Opera.
Shore, a childhood friend of Cronenberg's who also wrote the film's original
music, said he started picturing "The Fly" as an opera as soon as the movie was
released.
He said he sampled only two themes from his 1986 work.
"I love the characters," Shore said. "I wanted to write for a drama that I
was familiar with, and that I had a certain inside view of."
Reporters pressed Domingo on what attracted him to the story of star-crossed
lovers, one of whom learns to regurgitate digestive fluids onto his food like
houseflies do.
"Why not?" he said. "I couldn't resist."
The libretto by David Henry Hwang ("M. Butterfly") has all the elements
needed for good opera: a love story, a transformation, tragedy and death, not to
mention a large dose of melodrama.
The plot sticks to the same basic lines as the film, which starred Geena
Davis and Jeff Goldblum. Reporter Veronica Quaife falls for eccentric scientist
Seth Brundle at a reception. He takes her home to see his creation, a machine
that can teleport objects from one place to another.
One drunken night, Brundle climbs into the machine. It works perfectly, with
a catch: a housefly buzzed into the machine with him.
Overall, the opera has a very different feel. The setting has been changed to
1950s America, which somehow seems more operatic than the 1980s.
As Brundle, bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch has the unenviable task of
performing arias in his birthday suit as he climbs in and out of the teleport
machine. (Mezzo-soprano Ruxandra Donose is Quaife.)
The retro set design is evocative of 1950s horror flicks. And there's
something thrilling about the old-school special effects _ terrifically gruesome
costumes, a singing teleport machine and a giant fly scaling an opera set.
"It is in some ways a translation of the movie to the stage," Cronenberg
said. "But it's its own creature."
___
Associated Press Writer
PARIS (AP) - Be afraid, be very afraid: David Cronenberg's 1986
horror flick, "The Fly," has undergone a bizarre metamorphosis. It's now an
opera.
The new incarnation, with tenor Placido Domingo conducting a score by
Oscar-winning composer Howard Shore ("The Lord of the Rings"), isn't as gory as
the movie. Audiences will be spared close-ups of the title character's
fingernails falling off as he makes the transition from mild-mannered scientist
to giant insect.
Still, for an opera, it's pretty scary _ even if there are touches of dark
humor. Giggles broke out among those invited to Monday's dress rehearsal when a
mezzo-soprano belted out the film's catchphrase: "Be afraid. Be very
afraid."
Cronenberg, who is directing the opera, wasn't sure what effect it would
have.
"Someone's 6-year-old said, after seeing one of our rehearsals, that she
thought she would have to sleep with her parents for a while," he told
reporters. "So I guess it's working."
The opera will have its world premiere Wednesday at Paris' Theatre du Chatelet and its
U.S. premiere Sept. 7 at
the Los Angeles Opera.
Shore, a childhood friend of Cronenberg's who also wrote the film's original
music, said he started picturing "The Fly" as an opera as soon as the movie was
released.
He said he sampled only two themes from his 1986 work.
"I love the characters," Shore said. "I wanted to write for a drama that I
was familiar with, and that I had a certain inside view of."
Reporters pressed Domingo on what attracted him to the story of star-crossed
lovers, one of whom learns to regurgitate digestive fluids onto his food like
houseflies do.
"Why not?" he said. "I couldn't resist."
The libretto by David Henry Hwang ("M. Butterfly") has all the elements
needed for good opera: a love story, a transformation, tragedy and death, not to
mention a large dose of melodrama.
The plot sticks to the same basic lines as the film, which starred Geena
Davis and Jeff Goldblum. Reporter Veronica Quaife falls for eccentric scientist
Seth Brundle at a reception. He takes her home to see his creation, a machine
that can teleport objects from one place to another.
One drunken night, Brundle climbs into the machine. It works perfectly, with
a catch: a housefly buzzed into the machine with him.
Overall, the opera has a very different feel. The setting has been changed to
1950s America, which somehow seems more operatic than the 1980s.
As Brundle, bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch has the unenviable task of
performing arias in his birthday suit as he climbs in and out of the teleport
machine. (Mezzo-soprano Ruxandra Donose is Quaife.)
The retro set design is evocative of 1950s horror flicks. And there's
something thrilling about the old-school special effects _ terrifically gruesome
costumes, a singing teleport machine and a giant fly scaling an opera set.
"It is in some ways a translation of the movie to the stage," Cronenberg
said. "But it's its own creature."
___
.irl_cntr {
border-top:1px solid #cccccc;
width:100%;
margin-top:10px;
}
.irl_title {
background:#f1f1f1;
font-weight:bold;
font-size:10pt;
font-family:Arial;
font-variant:small-caps;
}
.irl_item {
text-decoration:none;
}
.irl_item:link {
color:blue;
}
By
ANGELA DOLAND
Associated Press Writer
PARIS (AP) - Be afraid, be very afraid: David Cronenberg's 1986
horror flick, "The Fly," has undergone a bizarre metamorphosis. It's now an
opera.
The new incarnation, with tenor Placido Domingo conducting a score by
Oscar-winning composer Howard Shore ("The Lord of the Rings"), isn't as gory as
the movie. Audiences will be spared close-ups of the title character's
fingernails falling off as he makes the transition from mild-mannered scientist
to giant insect.
Still, for an opera, it's pretty scary _ even if there are touches of dark
humor. Giggles broke out among those invited to Monday's dress rehearsal when a
mezzo-soprano belted out the film's catchphrase: "Be afraid. Be very
afraid."
Cronenberg, who is directing the opera, wasn't sure what effect it would
have.
"Someone's 6-year-old said, after seeing one of our rehearsals, that she
thought she would have to sleep with her parents for a while," he told
reporters. "So I guess it's working."
The opera will have its world premiere Wednesday at Paris' Theatre du Chatelet and its
U.S. premiere Sept. 7 at
the Los Angeles Opera.
Shore, a childhood friend of Cronenberg's who also wrote the film's original
music, said he started picturing "The Fly" as an opera as soon as the movie was
released.
He said he sampled only two themes from his 1986 work.
"I love the characters," Shore said. "I wanted to write for a drama that I
was familiar with, and that I had a certain inside view of."
Reporters pressed Domingo on what attracted him to the story of star-crossed
lovers, one of whom learns to regurgitate digestive fluids onto his food like
houseflies do.
"Why not?" he said. "I couldn't resist."
The libretto by David Henry Hwang ("M. Butterfly") has all the elements
needed for good opera: a love story, a transformation, tragedy and death, not to
mention a large dose of melodrama.
The plot sticks to the same basic lines as the film, which starred Geena
Davis and Jeff Goldblum. Reporter Veronica Quaife falls for eccentric scientist
Seth Brundle at a reception. He takes her home to see his creation, a machine
that can teleport objects from one place to another.
One drunken night, Brundle climbs into the machine. It works perfectly, with
a catch: a housefly buzzed into the machine with him.
Overall, the opera has a very different feel. The setting has been changed to
1950s America, which somehow seems more operatic than the 1980s.
As Brundle, bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch has the unenviable task of
performing arias in his birthday suit as he climbs in and out of the teleport
machine. (Mezzo-soprano Ruxandra Donose is Quaife.)
The retro set design is evocative of 1950s horror flicks. And there's
something thrilling about the old-school special effects _ terrifically gruesome
costumes, a singing teleport machine and a giant fly scaling an opera set.
"It is in some ways a translation of the movie to the stage," Cronenberg
said. "But it's its own creature."
___
