Opera Adaptation of "Brokeback Mountain" Planned

Brokeback Mountain, a novel written by Annie Proulx telling the story of two gay cowboys, and later an Oscar-winning film, is set to be made into an opera, England's Telegraph reports.

The 2005 film version starred Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as two cowboys struggling with their feelings for one another. The film, not surprisingly, enjoyed massive success, with Oscars awarded for best musical score, best adapted screenplay, and best director, Ang Lee.

Now New York City Opera has brought in 70-year-old composer Charles Wuorinen to write the operatic version of the story Proulx created. Wuorinen is clearly ecstatic to be working on such a project. "Ever since encountering Annie Proulx's extraordinary story I have wanted to make an opera on it, and it gives me great joy that Gerard Mortier and New York City Opera have given me the opportunity to do so," he praises.



Wuorinen's work includes the Pulitzer Prize winning Time's Ecomium and Haroun and the Sea of Stories, an adaptation of Salman Rushdie's novel. Brokeback Mountain will be his second world premiere at New York City Opera.

Acting general manager for the company, Gerard Mortier, says that Brokeback Mountain is set to open in spring of 2013.