ANNA NICOLE Makes U.S. Premiere in NYC; World Premiere Available on DVD

Anna Nicole, the Mark-Anthony Turnage opera surrounding the life events of model and socialite Anna Nicole Smith, comes to New York for its US premiere. Launching the 2013 Next Wave Festival, this co-production between BAM and New York City Opera features Sarah Joy Miller as Anna Nicole, the attention-seeking socialite who married oil mogul J. Howard Marshall II (a man more than 60 years her senior), squirmed her way into celebrity circles, and died as the result of an overdose on prescription drugs. Anna Nicole brings the audience through the annals of the life of a woman many saw as selfish and carefree. However, Anna Nicole is approached from different angles: the incredible tale of a young bombshell who won it all and lived a life of luxury, and the tragedy that took her away when life got too big for her.

The New York Production is directed by Richard Jones and New York City Opera's 66-piece orchestra is conducted by Steven Sloane. Anna Nicole's libretto was penned by Jerry Springer: the Opera co-creator Richard Thomas. The work was commissioned by the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and received its world premiere on February 17, 2011 in London. The world premiere performances are available on Opus Arte. Recorded live on February 23 and 26, 2011, the DVD and Blu-ray extras include cast gallery, an illustrated synopsis, and behind-the-scenes artist interviews.

The Dutch soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek studied at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. Ever since her breathtaking interpretation of Lady Macbeth von Mzensk in Amsterdam, she has been celebrated as a star in the Netherlands, debuting at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London with this same role. She was next cast as Sieglinde in Die Walküre, under the direction of Sir Simon Rattle at the Festival in Aix-en-Provence and at the Easter-Festival in Salzburg. Westbroek made her Metropolitan Opera debut on April 22, 2011 singing the role of Sieglinde in the premiere of a new production of Wagner's Die Walküre, directed by Robert Lapage.

The music for Anna Nicole was written by British composer Mark-Anthony Turnage. He created a stir with his first opera Greek (1988) which established him internationally as an original voice who could combine classical traditions with modern culture, including jazz elements in his music. His next opera The Silver Tassie was based on Sean O'Casey's 1926 tragic play set in Dublin during World War I. First performed in 2000 by the English National Opera, it won an Olivier Award, and was hailed as a brilliant new form of narrative opera. If librettist Richard Thomas is a master of modern tabloid idioms, Turnage can match it with a brilliant world of sound, ranging from witty American jazz to subtle passages illustrating the characters' most intense emotional states.

The libretto was penned by Richard Thomas, British co-author of the notorious 2003 musical Jerry Springer: the Opera, famous for its profanities, dark humor, dysfunctional characters and surreal images of American pop culture. Thomas has a keen ear for modern American idioms and his punchy libretto comes with a warning about its extreme language and adult content. In Anna Nicole, Thomas re-explores celebrity culture and its rapacious consumption of naive wannabes for the amusement of a mass audience.

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