Allen goes to the Opera

Woody Allen

The Los Angeles Opera's upcoming season will feature several productions directed by famed filmmakers including Woody Allen, David Cronenberg and William Friedkin.

Allen, making his operatic debut, is scheduled to direct Gianni Schicchi, part of Puccini's Il Trittico, a trio of one-act operas. Gianni Schicchi, set in medieval Florence, is Puccini's only comedy. The two other operas, Il Tabarro and Suor Angelica, will be directed by William Friedkin.

"I'm tremendously excited about our 2008-09 season because it is full of adventure," Placido Domingo, the Los Angeles Opera's general director, said. Cronenberg is set to direct the US premiere of Howard Shore's The Fly.