Although Milan lost its chance, London steals the rebound and it's all net, no backboard. That awesome creator of all things insanely-cool, Terry Gilliam, and the English National Opera wait for Sir Gilliam to f**k up Berlioz for his opera-directing debut in a few months with The Damnation of Faust. Gilliam's shaolin tiger style always brings a cinematic, surreal fantasy like we loved in Fear and Loathing, Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and Baron Munchausen but in Faust, love will be his new protagonist in Goethe’s dramatic poem about the desperate, insane depths of love.
Conducting is young, bright thing (and Twilight's R-Patz body-double) Edward Gardner, ENO's Music Director. Christine Rice is Marguerite, Christopher Purves is Mephistopheles, Peter Hoare is Faust.
ENO's website put up a clip of Gilliam talking about Berlioz (above) and, ummmmm, hey, check out @1:25 Gilliam's swastika fetish! Third Reich Faust? Mephistopheles as Hitler? We can hardly wait until May to find out...