Bust Up: 'Anna Nicole Smith' Opera Divides Critics

LONDON -- Is the tragic, tawdry life story of Anna Nicole Smith, the surgically enhanced ex-stripper who made and lost millions, opera-worthy material? The critics aren't so sure.

Some reviewers slammed "Anna Nicole" -- which opened Thursday night at London's Royal Opera House -- as a "perversely unmoving" "failed souffle." Others, however, have praised it as a "provocative" and "deeply moving" examination of modern celebrity culture.

The opera, by composer Mark-Anthony Turnage and librettist Richard Thomas, charts the rapid rise to fame and fortune -- acquired by posing for Playboy and marrying an 89-year-old oil tycoon -- and equally speedy downfall of the tabloids' favorite busty Texas high school dropout. The performance is filled with sex, legal battles and several drug overdoses, including Smith's own lonely demise in a hotel room at age 39.

Here's a sampling of reviewers' reactions:

The Independent
"It's a tremendous show, fast-paced, spare and concentrated," writes Jessica Duchen. "Anna Nicole overtly puts America on trial: it reminds us that we had it all, but we threw it away. She's not only a tragic heroine: she's the rise and fall of Western excess itself."

The Washington Post
"As soon as the actual story began," writes Anne Midgette, "the opera fell like a failed souffle. By deliberately opting for a TV-biopic approach, it became the latest entry in the lists of failed biographical operas: It presented such events like items on a checklist, acted out by two-dimensional characters that never -- despite a fine cast -- came to life."

The Associated Press
"We may feel pity for her, along with disgust," writes Mike Silverman, "but those are not responses that redeem the tawdry spectacle of her life. In this retelling of her story, it's hard to empathize with her, much less imagine her as a figure of tragedy."

The Daily Telegraph
"It's often very funny," writes Rupert Christiansen, "but it's not just a crude farce with a downbeat ending: I think it is underpinned by genuine compassion for Anna Nicole and genuine scorn for the forces that mold, and then destroy her. ... In the title role, Eva-Maria Westbroek, singing with inexhaustible energy, gives a big-hearted, full-throttle performance which never strikes a false note of sentimentality."

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The Daily Mail
"This is not just a clever send-up of superficial values," writes David Gillard. "It's a glittering modern morality tale that condemns a soulless society that worships at the shrine of silicone implants and Jimmy Choo shoes. ... Turnage's eclectic jazz tinged score ... splendidly captures the mood of this rasping, grasping America nightmare."

The New York Times
"The ovations were tumultuous," writes Anthony Tommasini. "The house's elegant stage curtain is usually emblazoned with 'ER II,' the emblem of Queen Elisabeth. On this night the emblem on the substitute curtain was 'A n R,' for Anna Nicole Regina. Why not? Anna is now an unlikely operatic queen. Besides, I doubt that Her Majesty will be attending this show."