The LA Opera's addition to The Fly's history feels as if the '58 movie and the '86 one were put into the same telepod then transported onto the stage. As in both, there's a focus on the fascination on what new advances the science of the time (nuclear energy and genetic research respectively) might bring. But Cronenberg wants audiences to judge the opera on its own merits, not where it fits in the franchise: "Whatever I'm doing has to work as a stand-alone piece."

The Fly: The Opera. Photo: Robert Millard.