Anna Nicole Smith - The Opera
Published on 11 March 2010 by Mike Shaw
The creators of Jerry Springer: The Opera are turning their attentions to the life and death of pneumatic blonde Anna Nicole Smith.
The former Playboy model became globally famous when she married 89-year-old oil tycoon J Howard Marshall and became embroiled in a long-running battle over the billionaire's estate following his death.
Smith died in 2007 at just 39 after an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.
Anna Nicole has been co-written by Richard Thomas, one of the creators of the controversial Jerry Springer: The Opera, and Mark-Anthony Turnage, one of Britain's leading composers.
The Dutch soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek will play Smith, and the production will open at the Royal Opera House on 17 February 2011.
A spokesman described the production as "a major event in the UK arts calendar" but refused to give more details about the plot.
