Holy shit. Talk about grandiose ideas. Smashing Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan is one of the most creative forces of our generation. And he’s not resting on his laurels of being the singer in one of the most success 90s bands. He’s thinking about his decade-defining double album “Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness” and how it would make a great opera. So he’s teamed up with Lyric Opera of Chicago, his hometown company, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the album.
No kidding. A rock opera, so to speak (thanks The Who).
The result is “A Night Of Mellon Collie And Infinite Sadness” – you’ll hear Billy Corgan and special guest artists (couple with the Lyric Opera Of Chicago Orchestra And Chorus) in a completely new, sonic and visual experience.
This is bound to blow minds – especially those of Smashing Pumpkin fans. Imagine they’re your favourite band… and they do THIS?! Wow.
“A Night Of Mellon Collie And Infinite Sadness” will be staged across seven nights only, November 21–30, 2025 and will feature newly commissioned arrangements and orchestrations by Billy Corgan and James Lowe, who also conducts, as well as costumes from House of Gilles by Gilles and Chloé Mendel Corgan.
Corgan said, “It is thrilling to collaborate with Lyric head John Mangum, my musical partner James Lowe, and all of the artists at Lyric in reimagining this very special and historic album, and to discover how Lyric’s full operatic treatment is helping me experience my own compositions in powerful new ways. Opera and rock both tell stories of heightened emotions, and I am excited for both fans of my music and traditional opera fans to hear some truly inspired work; for the balance here is to honor both traditions in a magisterial way.”
Tickets for “A Night Of Mellon Collie And Infinite Sadness” go on sale to the general public on Friday, April 11.
John Mangum, general director, president and CEO of Lyric Opera of Chicago, adds: “Next season is filled with a tremendous range of lavish and powerful opera productions that we are excited to share with our audiences. I’m just as excited about the special performances like ‘A Night Of Mellon Collie And Infinite Sadness’ that open the aperture and expand the definition of opera and what an American opera company can be. The season clearly illustrates how this company continues to push the art form forward and create new work that can only happen in Chicago.”
Crazy to think – ‘Mellon Collie…” is almost 30 years old What were you doing in October 1995?
