Tag: BAM

FUN

Seen in the city – busting out a SEXY new opera!

Just another reason why I LOVE NEW YORK! Can you Guess another?

993, Anna Nicole Smith secured a contract to replace supermodel Claudia Schiffer as the face of Guess.
Anna Nicole Smith secured a contract to replace supermodel Claudia Schiffer in 1993 as the face of Guess.  I loved those ads & Guess jeans were super popular.  Everyone wanted a pair.

In her brief life, Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith was better known for her physical (double D) and financial (billionaire by marriage) assets than for her acting accomplishments (Naked Gun 33 ½ ).  Although the struggles with her weight and substance abuse overshadowed the last years of her life, this image from Smith’s Guess campaign ( I remember them well) will remind you of how beautiful she was. But in 2011, four years after Smith’s death at 39, the composer Mark-Anthony Turnage and the librettist Richard Thomas (Jerry Springer, The Opera) gave the prima donna a stage.  I can’t believe I missed that SOAP opera!

Their new opera, Anna Nicole, arrives at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) on September 17 (through September 28), following a sold-out run at London’s Royal Opera House. “There was never a train crash between the institution and the subject,” says director Richard Jones, of the production’s Opera House origin. For BAM, Jones swapped the British cast for an American one, starring Sarah Joy Miller as the titular lead. Characteristics as varied as the oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II (Smith’s late husband, 63 years her senior) and a troupe of sad flat-chested women sprinkle the saucy two-hour work.

Smith’s opening line: “I WANT TO BLOW YOU ALL, BLOW YOU ALL……a kiss!”

Although the outsize mix of boobs and bel canto is said to be wildly funny, when a menacing chorus of cameras closes in on our troubled heroine, the hilarity ends.

But the story might not be over just yet – according to some reports, Smith's estate is considering legal action against the producers, calling the show 'sleazy' and complaining that the family were not consulted. Photo Reuters.
But the story might not be over just yet – according to some reports, Smith’s estate is considering legal action against the producers, calling the show ‘sleazy’ and complaining that the family were not consulted. Photo Reuters.

Sadly; I guess you can say that Anna Nicole did end up blowing it!

Taken from W Magazine –
Marnie Hanel