Minn. Opera Commissions 'The Manchurian Candidate'

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Opera has commissioned an operatic thriller — an adaptation of "The Manchurian Candidate."

The opera said Monday that Kevin Puts will write the music and Mark Campbell will provide the libretto. It will be the second operatic collaboration for Puts and Campbell. "Silent Night," also commissioned by the Minnesota Opera, won Puts the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Music.

"The Manchurian Candidate" is a political thriller based on a 1959 novel by Richard Condon, about a man brainwashed into becoming a "sleeper" assassin for a Communist conspiracy. Laurence Harvey, Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury starred in a 1962 movie version. A 2004 remake starred Liev Schreiber, Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep.

The Minnesota Opera plans a world premiere of "The Manchurian Candidate" in its 2014-2015 season.

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