Back in 2005, Gus Van Sant came up with the movie Last Days, a fictionalized account of the final days before Kurt Cobain’s death. The film was then adapted as an opera that originally premiered at the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Theatre in London.
Although Kurt Cobain’s estate was not happy with this adaptation, it is now announced that this opera will premiere in the U.S. at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.
The opera was composed by Oliver Leith, and co-directed by Matt Copson and Anna Morrissey. It stars Agathe Rousselle, who you might know from Titane, as the central figure of the narrative, named Blake.
The official opera description says:
Blake a successful musician, has recently escaped rehab to return home. The safety of his house is soon disrupted by a slew of unwelcome guests—an insistent delivery worker, a pair of Mormons on a mission, a chorus of scrounging friends, and the ominous figure of the property’s groundskeeper. Matters are made worse by the never-ending phone calls from his Manager and the presence of a Private Investigator and Superfan stalking nearby. Blake responds by hiding and disassociating from his surroundings.
As the chaos around him reaches an apex, a ghostly apparition or a magician appears before Blake offering him a way out—in the form of a bullet. Blake is left alone—at last—with nothing to confront but himself. Realizing he is existentially trapped, he chooses to end it all, and with his death, the last days are over.
Los Angeles Philharmonic – Last Days is opening Feb. 6, and you can get your tickets here.
