Forever Marilyn, an opera by Gavin Bryars (based on Marilyn Bowering’s 1987 poetry collection, Anyone Can See I Love You), has received a National Endowment for the Arts after several years in development, reports the L.A. Times.
“The NEA is giving Long Beach Opera $30,000 to help it dive into the Marilyn Monroe myth with the U.S. premiere of Marilyn Forever by composer Gavin Bryars and librettist Marilyn Bowering, scheduled for two performances in March at the Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro. It premiered last year in Victoria, Canada, cast with two singers — one playing Monroe and the other a ‘chorus of men’ in her life. The accompanists were a chamber orchestra and a jazz trio that included Bryars on bass.”