Royal Opera House to stage premiere on Anna Nicole Smith's life

London, Mar 11 (ANI): The Royal Opera House (ROH) is set to stage an opera about the life of former Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith, who died in 2007.

According to the ROH, the work by composer Mark-Anthony Turnage and writer Richard Thomas will be "a major event in the UK arts calendar", reports the BBC.

Smith, a stripper who went on to find fame as a model and actress, had died at the age of 39 of an accidental prescription drug overdose in Florida, while embroiled in a long-running legal battle to claim a share of the estate of her late husband, billionaire oil tycoon J Howard Marshall.

Thomas said the opera would end with Smith's death rather than the court battle over the disposal of her remains and custody of her daughter that followed.

Anna Nicole will have its world premiere at the Covent Garden venue on February 17 2011 with Dutch soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek in the lead role. (ANI)