Soprano Sarah Joy Miller, Star of ANNA NICOLE, Appears as Anna Nicole Smith in the Pride Parade Today

Soprano Sarah Joy Miller, star of the upcoming U.S. premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage'sAnna Nicole - a co-production of BAM and New York City Opera - will appear as Anna Nicole Smith atop a float in this year's Heritage of Pride Parade.

The event, in which BAM and New York City Opera are participating for the first time takes place in New York City today, June 30th. The parade begins at 12PM at 36th Street and Fifth Avenue and concludes at Christopher & Greenwich Streets.

Miller will be dressed in full Anna Nicole regalia paying tribute to the late Playboy model and tabloid celebrity's wedding to 89 year-old billionaire J. Howard Marshall. Dressed as a bride and seated in an antique white 1958 Rolls Royce convertible, Miller will be joined by six drag queens dressed to impersonate Anna Nicole at different stages of her extraordinary life.

The U.S. premiere of Anna Nicole conducted by Steven Sloane and directed by Richard Jones runs September 17-28 at BAM's Howard Gilman Opera House.

Miller comes to the role of Anna Nicole from recent performances in Carmina Burana (Dallas Symphony Orchestra May 2013), as Violetta in La Traviata (Palm Beach Opera January 2013) and Leila in Le pecheurs de perles (Michigan Opera April 2012).

This year's Grand Marshals include Edith Windsor, Harry Belafonte and Earl Fowlkes who will lead the 2013 March down Fifth Avenue.