Watch Courtney Love’s Opera Debut
It's a pop opera, to be fair.
Well, here’s something.
On Thursday this week, Courtney Love is making her opera debut, starring as Athena in Todd Almond’s new pop opera, Kansas City Choir Boy. Part of Prototype Festival — a forward-thinking opera/theatre extravaganza that takes over New York venues from January 8-7 — the sold-out show is being billed as a “theatricalized concept album” that sounds like Gone Girl meets Ancient Greece: “A mystery told through flashbacks, the show tells the story of two lovers in small town America who separate when one goes in search of destiny and then disappears.”
It’s a ballsy move for the Hole singer, especially considering the infamous YouTube that went viral last year showcasing the disaster that unfolded when her vocal and guitar tracks were isolated from the rest of the sound. (Which, as Love’s defenders point out, was not a particularly fair thing to do.) “I’ve never done musical theater — I really wanted to do theater, but probably I’m not ready to do a play quite yet,” Love told the New York Times, about the pop opera. “It’s baptism by fire, but I’m going to hang in and give it my best.”
There’s only going to be nine performances, all of which are already sold out. But never fear! The Times have uploaded video of Love singing ‘All I Ever Wanted’ from the show, accompanied by composer/co-star Todd Almond on piano.
What she lacks in adherence to pitch she more than makes up for mournful eyes, electrifying emotion and that car-crash watchability that we’ve grown to love her for.
Read more about the project here.