Billy Corgan’s Mellon Collie Opera Heads to Europe with London Dates

Billy Corgan will bring his operatic reworking of Smashing Pumpkins’ Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness to Europe this September, with two nights confirmed at London’s Royal Festival Hall. The production follows a sold-out run at the Lyric Opera of Chicago last year, where the double album was transformed into a full vocal and orchestral piece.

Corgan composed the work with conductor James Lowe. For the European dates, the cast includes baritone Ed Parks for the London, Belgian, and French performances, soprano Sydney Mancasola, mezzo-soprano Zoie Reams, tenor Dominick Valdes Chenes, and baritone Dean Murphy for the Spanish concert. Costumes come from House of Gilles, the New York couture house co-owned by Chloé Mendel Corgan.

The original album, a sprawling 28-track work from 1995, has long resisted simple categorization. This adaptation strips the material back to its melodic and lyrical cores, placing them in a formal opera setting. It’s an unusual move, even for a musician who has never hesitated to cross genre lines. The Chicago run drew attention not for novelty, but for how earnestly it treated the music.

After London, the tour moves to Belgium, France, and Spain. No further dates have been announced, but the choice of venues like the Royal Festival Hall signals an intent to present the piece in spaces built for orchestral work, not rock nostalgia.