Woody Allen to direct opera: 'I have no idea what I'm doing'

Woody Allen, directing an opera?

Photo: Woody Allen to direct opera: 'I have no idea what I'm doing'

It will happen in September 2008, according to Placido Domingo, general director of the Los Angeles Opera.

The New York-based filmmaker will make his operatic directorial debut by opening up the LA Opera's 2008-09 season.

"I have no idea what I am doing," Allen said in a statement Thursday. "But incompetence has never prevented me from plunging in with enthusiasm."

Allen is scheduled to direct "Gianni Schicchi," one part of Puccini's "Il Trittico," a trio of one-act operas.

The two other operas, "Il Tabarro" and "Suor Angelica," will be directed by movie director William Friedkin ("The Exorcist," "The French Connection").

Domingo stated that he had often pursued movie directors to try their hand at opera.

He added that his longest pursuit was Allen, who took four years to say yes.

"Gianni Schicchi," set in medieval Florence, is Puccini's only comedy, according to an LA Opera press release.

"To have Woody Allen direct 'Gianni Schicchi' is a match made in heaven," said Friedkin in a statement.