Smashing Pumpkins mainman Billy Corgan is taking his band's classic album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness to the opera in celebration of its 30th anniversary.
The Lyric Opera in the band's hometown of Chicago, Illinois, will host 'A Night Of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness' for seven nights on November 21-30 this year.
The show sees Corgan reimaging the album using the Lyric's technical and artistic capabilities "for an immersively original sonic and visual experience that blurs the boundaries of opera, rock, and performance art."
It will feature newly commissioned arrangements and orchestrations by Corgan and opera conductor James Lowe.
Corgan says: "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness was written in Chicago, in many ways for Chicago. So to bring this work to this esteemed opera house, it's got such a local tie to it, it feels so deep to me.
"The versions that most people would be familiar with are the versions that the Smashing Pumpkins did, and we're very proud of those versions. But as the writer I know there's other ways to do this music.
"So the idea here is to create an interpretive effect that's a single, standalone event. You have to see this if you want to experience the album in a completely different way."
Tickets for go on sale to the general public on Friday, April 11, at lyricopera.org
Mellon Collie is considered Smashing Pumpkins’ masterpiece. Made up of 28 songs, it spawned five successful singles – Bullet With Butterfly Wings, 1979, Zero, Thirty-Three and Tonight Tonight.
Corgan adds: "Opera and rock both tell stories of heightened emotions, and I am excited for both fans of my music and traditional opera fans to hear some truly inspired work; for the balance here is to honour both traditions in a magisterial way."
