Anna Nicole Smith the opera and the subject of celebrity: a worthy one

March 6, 3:56 PMSF Opera ExaminerCindy Warner

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the SF Opera Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Call it crazy but celebrity is a worthy subject

Anna Nicole Smith would probably be over the moon about Covent Garden producing an original opera about her for 2011.  She always craved attention she has said.

David Gockley, the director of San Francisco Opera, weighs in on the issue.  He emailed to me yesterday:

Covent Garden is a serious organization with a lot of integrity. The composer is very skilled. People thought we (in Houston ) were nuts when we announced Nixon in China and Harvey Milk. The former has achieved almost legendary status because of the fabulous John Adams music and Alice Goodman’s libretto. Harvey Milk was decently successful and of course now there is the film. There also was a Marilyn Monroe opera (“Marilyn”) by Ezra Laderman, which flopped.

The subject of “celebrity” is a worthy one.

Here's David under the SFO chandelier and symbol; and a few Nixon in China videos from Youtube.

Act 1, Scene 1, News; Act 1, Scene 3; Act 3, Chairman Dance . . .

Following suit Dawnn Behrens, the celebrity impersonator up for Best Actress at the Reel Awards this month, emails:

I agree!
Anna Nicoles life was very "show worthy",
filled with struggles,joy, laughter, love, passion,
as well as plenty of tragedy and mystery.

Thats what I remember most about her...
she was filled with so much life,
and she savored every minute of it!

We should all try to do more of that.

Mezzo soprano MaryAnn McCormick, who has sung Carmen, Maddalena in Rigoletto and one of Wagner's Valkyries emails: 
 

I imagine that there could be some strong scenes in an opera about Anna Nicole. I am called to be actress when I perform so that’s not the issue. And as you know I play characters like Carmen and she is ‘no angel’. (Do you know the Mae West movie, “I’m no angel”?) But I would have a problem with nudity so it would depend on how they depict her. Hopefully like you said they would depict her in a respectful manner.

Here is MaryAnn's headshot, in comparison to one of Anna Nicole, above right.

MAM continues: 
It is exciting to perform in the Ring and it’s such great music! ? I have sung the Walkuries at the Met twice before in this same production. And I’m so glad to be part of it again . . . The production now is the Otto Schenk one which is world famous and very traditional.  The only photo I have as a Walkurie is one taken back stage with all of us Walkuries in Venice . That was the production that Greer was in, and the photo is on my web-site. You may not be able to guess which one I am! That was a modern production so we are all in velvet dresses looking very girlie and not very mythical.  

Here's MaryAnn, center, fifth from left . . . impersonating Venetian bridesmaids . . . ?

MAM sings Grimgerde, one of the soprano or mezzo Valkyries at the Met in April in Die Walkure. The Valkyries are Wotan's daughters from his liaison with Mother Earth, Erda, and their job as goddesses is to escort fallen soldiers to Valhalla. The Valkyries try to protect their sister and the heroine Brunnhilde from Wotan's wrath.

As SFO's William Berger says, the eight wild full-voiced women and the furious orchestra manage to make an unforgettable impact. The music is dizzying, intoxicating and sinister--like war itself. (Wagner Without Fear, page 242.)

Indeed . . . MaryAnn has the physical talent to back up her role as a protective sister goddess of Valhalla. She really has the competitive spirit, the drive and physical talent.  Her website has pictures of her running a biathlon in Monaco. Similarly, as most know, the marathon comes from the ancient Greeks where the runner exhausts himself to bring news the war is over.

So possums, there's still time to get in shape before SFO's season in June.   Meanwhile who's ready for Bay to Breakers in May?  Here's the writer waving from tinseldom . . .

Photos of MAM courtesy of MAM

Photo of David Gockley courtesy of San Francisco Opera

Photo of Anna Nicole Smith:  Danny Moloshok/AP

Anna Nicole Smith weapon of mass distraction

The bourgeoisie and thwarting love

Francesca Zambello to direct Die Walkure

Wotan shares his dressing room

Sacrifice of Brunnhilde

Opera tackles weighty issues

Greer Grimsley Impressions, Passions, Stand by Me, Dreams

Anna Nicole Smith opera

Tosca featured in film Milk

Tosca and how opera's embattled stay in fighting shape

Siggy team player part I

Siggy part II
 

Oscar Wilde and the 'love that dares not speak it's name'

SFO unveils Salome for 2009

SFO's summer of love 2009

Opera announces 2009/2010 season

Contact the writer at SFOperaExaminer@Yahoo.com