BBC4 to Air Royal Opera House's ANNA NICOLE Early 2011

ANNA NICOLE, a new opera based on the life of late actress/model Anna Nicole Smith, will be broadcast on BBC4 in early 2011, Deadline reports. 

The opera, which will premiere at the Royal Opera House on February 11, was written by Richard Thomas (co-author of Jerry Springer: THE OPERA) and Mark-Anthony Turnage. Starring in the production is Dutch soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek as the title character.  The cast also includes Alan Oke (Old Man Marshall), Gerald Finley (The Lawyer Stern), Susan Bickley (Virgie), Lore Lixenberg (Cousin Shelley), Peter Hoare (Larry King/Doctor), Rebecca de Pont Davies (Aunt Kay), Allison Cook (Melissa), Grant Coyle (Billy), Hugh Francis (Mayor), and ZhengZhong Zhou (Runner).

The show is to be directed by Richard Jones and conducted by Antonio Pappano, music director of Covent Garden.

The Royal Opera house bills the piece as "a celebratory story of our times that includes extreme language, drug abuse and sexual content,' Deadline reports.

The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in the London district of Covent Garden. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Originally called the Theatre Royal, it served primarily a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history. In 1734, the first ballet was presented. A year later Handel's first season of operas began. Many of his operas and oratorios were specifically written for Covent Garden and had their premieres there.

For more information, visit www.roh.org.uk.