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Paris opera house adds Bollywood to the mix

Last Updated: Thursday, April 5, 2007 | 2:47 PM ET

CBC Arts

French opera house Théâtre du Châtelet is set to add a bit of Bollywood to its already eclectic offerings next season.

Organizers announced on Wednesday that Indian filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who directed 2002's award-winning Bollywood epic Devdas, will stage an upcoming production of French composer Albert Roussel's opera-ballet Padmavati.

Indian filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali will stage an upcoming production of French composer Albert Roussel's opera-ballet Padmavati.
(Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP/Getty)

The rarely performed work, which was inspired by a Hindu legend, will take the Châtelet's Paris stage in March 2008.

Quebec contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux will lead a largely French cast in the production, which is set in 13th century India.

Monkey legend, The Fly also set for new season

The Théâtre du Châtelet had previously announced several other interesting and unusual projects it plans to stage during its upcoming 2007-2008 season.

The Paris-based troupe will also present British pop artist Damon Albarn's Mandarin-language opera Monkey: Journey to the West in October.

The highly anticipated work, which was commissioned in conjunction with the Manchester International Festival and Berlin's Staatsoper, is based on the Chinese legend of the Monkey King and will include Chinese acrobats and martial artists.

The company's upcoming season will also include the opera adaptation of David Cronenberg's The Fly, which the Canadian filmmaker is collaborating on with Oscar-winning Canadian composer Howard Shore and famed tenor Placido Domingo — also general director of the Los Angeles Opera.

Cronenberg's opera, a co-production between the Châtelet and the Los Angeles Opera, will open in Paris July 2008.

This story is now closed to commenting.

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Cronenberg's The Fly to transform into an opera
Gorillaz opera in the works

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