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Smashing Pumpkins Open Operatic ‘Mellon Collie’ Run at Chicago’s Lyric Opera

The residency recasts the 1995 album with Lyric Opera’s 60-piece orchestra under James Lowe to create a new staged concert experience.

Overview

  • Opening night on Nov. 21 at Chicago’s Civic Opera House featured the Lyric Opera’s 60-piece orchestra and chorus conducted by James Lowe.
  • Early reports differ on the exact set count, with coverage listing 17 or 18 of the album’s 28 tracks performed.
  • The engagement spans seven nights, with six additional performances scheduled through Nov. 30.
  • A 30th-anniversary deluxe edition was released the same day, offering a 6LP box with over 80 minutes of unreleased 1996 tour audio plus new book, tarot cards and lithographs.
  • A Chicago Tribune review describes a roughly 90-minute program with Corgan singing five pieces alongside four opera soloists, onstage orchestra and chorus, and newly commissioned animated visuals.