The Fly (opera)

The Fly is an opera in two acts by Canadian composer Howard Shore, with a libretto by David Henry Hwang. It was commissioned by the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, France, where it premiered on 2 July 2008, and by Edgar Baitzel, then director of the Los Angeles Opera, where the opera was first performed on 7 September 2008. The work was broadcast by Radio France's station France Musique on 2 August 2008.^[1]

The opera is loosely based on David Cronenberg's 1986 film The Fly, which was based on the short story of the same name by George Langelaan. Shore also wrote the musically unrelated score of that film.^[2]

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere cast,[3][4] 2 July 2008 Conductor: Plácido Domingo
Seth Brundle (The Fly), scientist	bass-baritone	Daniel Okulitch
Veronica Quaife, journalist	mezzo-soprano	Ruxandra Donose
Stathis Borans, editor	tenor	David Curry in Paris[5] Gary Lehman in Los Angeles[6]
Officer/Medical Analyst/Cheevers	mezzo-soprano	Beth Clayton
Marky	tenor	Jay Hunter Morris
Scientist #1	mezzo-soprano	Sophie van de Woestyne in Paris Silvia Vasquez in Los Angeles
Scientist #2	baritone	Jean-Gabriel Saint-Martin in Paris Nicholas Hartley in Los Angeles
Scientist #3	mezzo-soprano	Louise Callinan in Paris Anna Jablonski in Los Angeles
Scientist #4	baritone	Frederic Goncalves in Paris Matthew Moore in Los Angeles
Scientist #5	baritone	Luc Lalonde in Paris Andrew Wilkowske in Los Angeles
Director		David Cronenberg
Set designer		Dante Ferretti
Costume designer		Denise Cronenberg
Lighting designer		A.J. Weissbard
Associate conductor/Chorus master		Grant Gershon
Makeup and creature design		Stephan L. Dupuis
Makeup, creature and puppet fabrication		Mark A. Rappaport's Creature Effects, Inc.

The opera runs approximately two hours.

References

1. Héro, Florian (30 June 2008). "Histoire d'une oeuvre: Howard Shore: The Fly" (in French). Radio France. Retrieved 21 August 2008.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
2. Tommasini, Anthony (8 September 2008). "The Song of the Brundlefly". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 September 2008.
3. "Howard Shore: The Fly – The Opera: The Creative Team". Los Angeles Opera. 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-06-02. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
4. "Howard Shore: The Fly – The Opera: The Cast". Los Angeles Opera. 2008. Archived from the original on 2 June 2008. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
5. Riding, Alan (5 July 2008). "Trying to Teach 'The Fly' to Soar Operatically". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
6. "LA Opera – The Fly (playbill)". Los Angeles Opera. Archived from the original on 11 May 2008. Retrieved 10 September 2008.

External links

• "Howard Shore: The Fly The Opera (homepage)". Los Angeles Opera. 2008. Archived from the original on 4 July 2008. Retrieved 4 July 2008.
• "Théâtre du Châtelet: The Fly" (in French). Théâtre du Châtelet. 2008. Retrieved 4 July 2008.
• Davies, Lizzy (3 July 2008). "The Fly lands on Paris stage as a Cronenberg opera". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 July 2008. (a review)