More than a decade after its release in theaters, David Lynch’s Lost Highway finally arrives on DVD today in the United States. Next week it arrives on the London stage, as composer Olga Neuwirth's opera based on the film has its British premiere at the Young Vic Theater.
"I've always loved David Lynch's films, ever since The Elephant Man," Neuwirth told the U.K. Telegraph, "but there was something really special about Lost Highway… I love the way it plays with time, and the way you cannot tell what is reality and what is fantasy. This fits in with my view of music-theatre, because I don't want to represent things in a naturalistic way. I wanted to create an endless loop of time, with little phrases that recur again and again."
Needless to say, Lost Highway makes for an exceedingly nontraditional opera. Telegraph writer Ivan Hewett describes it as "a vast soundscape in which the sound of twenty-six players and eleven singers and singing actors is mingled with video images and a synthesized soundtrack. Snatches of Kurt Weill and Magic Moments and Monteverdi add a further strangeness to the mix." Or as director Diane Paulus explains it in video clips from the production’s web site, "the theater as a whole is being treated as Lost Highway: The Installation." Only six performances are scheduled, so get your tickets early. Here’s a sneak peek: