A tragic tale made for the stage
A baby abandoned by death, heir to an immense fortune. A mother who dies five months after her beloved son. A man struck down in his youth. Fortune denied. And that’s before you ever get to the backstory of the ancient Croesus, or the chorus of grasping lovers. So far, so operatic.
Then there’s the drugs, the fried chicken, the addiction, the weight gain, the weight loss, the implants, the botched cosmetic surgery, the modelling career, the reality show, the Playboy shoots, the strip club, the dirt poor childhood, and the declaration “I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout nothin’.” Oh, and the messy death from accidental overdose, followed by paternity suits and a 15-year court battle over millions and millions of dollars. Anna Nicole The Opera — are we ready for it? (Apparently so. When the Guardian newspaper polled its readers as to whether the life of Anna Nicole Smith was opera fodder, 78% agreed. How traditionalists will react remains to be seen.)
