REVIEW: A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness at the Lyric Opera of Chicago
Walking into Lyric Opera of Chicago for the world premiere of A Night of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness felt less like heading to an opera and more like stepping into a reimagined universe built around one of alternative rock’s most ambitious albums. If you’re a fan of The Smashing Pumpkins, this is something you need to have on your radar. It recreates the album you already love, in a way that completely transforms it into something new.
Before the show even started, it was clear this wasn’t going to be a typical night at the opera. The lobby buzzed with a mix of longtime Pumpkins fans in t-shirts and blazers next to opera regulars decked out in full tuxedos and gowns, all circling themed drink stations and merch tables. I grabbed the “Twilight to Starlight” beer from Hop Butcher which is a collaboration with Madame Zuzu’s, the tea shop and café owned by Billy Corgan. It’s a small detail, but one that sets the tone: this production is deeply aware of the album’s mythology and the culture surrounding it.
This is important to understand when going in because this is not just a rock show with orchestral backing. If you’re expecting to see Billy front and center, guitar in hand, with strings swelling behind him, you’ll need to recalibrate. Billy Corgan does appear, but sparingly. Instead, the heart of the performance belongs to four opera singers and a full chorus, all delivering interpretations that expand the emotional weight of the original material rather than mimic it.
What they’ve created is a true opera. The staging leans fully into theatricality, with sweeping art deco screen visuals, dramatic lighting, and costumes designed by Chloé Mendel that feel both ethereal and grounded in the album’s dreamlike tone. There are moments that feel intimate and fragile, and others that explode into something massive and overwhelming, which mirrors the emotional range that made Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness so iconic in the first place.
Musically, it’s fascinating to hear these songs refracted through an operatic lens. Themes you might associate with distortion and fuzz are instead carried by soaring vocal lines and layered choral arrangements. It doesn’t replace the original album, it completely reframes it. Certain melodies hit harder when stripped of their rock context, while others become grand, almost mythic in scale.
What makes the whole experience work is that it never feels like a gimmick. This isn’t a novelty crossover, it’s genuine. You can feel the care taken to honor the spirit of the original record while also pushing it into a completely different artistic space. It asks something of the audience, too. You have to meet it halfway, letting go of expectations about how these songs “should” sound.
If you’re a diehard Pumpkins fan, it’s worth seeing simply to experience a different dimension of music you already love. And if you’re even slightly curious about what happens when alternative rock collides with opera at the highest level, this production makes a compelling case that the two worlds have more in common than you might think.
- Dan (from the B- Side)