The Fly Becomes Opera

Horror movie The Fly becomes opera

Film director David Cronenberg took to the stage in LA alongside opera heavyweight Placido Domingo to launch the opera version of his 1986 cult hit, The Fly.

Over two decades on, the film has undergone a regenesis of its own and is set to be performed at the city’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in September.

Rather than singing, the operatic tenor will be conducting performances. Placido admits at first he was dubious about bringing the film to the stage: “I was a little skeptical about the subject. ‘The Fly?’ I said ‘well, how is it going to be reading for an opera?’ but it just takes somebody that has the experience of composer Howard Shore to write the music, and he has done a score that goes fabulously well with the story.”

Over the years Howard Shore has provided film scores for all but one of Cronenberg’s movies, including the original The Fly and Eastern Promises last year. And he insists composing the opera was a joy: “Working with two great artists like Placido Domingo and David Cronenberg, it’s just been a fantastic experience.

Singer Daniel Okulitch, who plays Seth Brundle in the stage version, says the show has thrown up some challenges costume-wise: “In the final transformation the only parts of my body that is exposed are my eyes, my mouth and my ears, so your resonance changes. And just the heat of the latex, you’re in a little Easy Bake oven when you’re inside this thing and you’re sweating!”

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