Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch has become an opera

The stage version features 16 original songs, integrating popular football chants into the chorus

Colin Firth starred in a 1997 film adaptation of the best-selling memoir

A football opera is set to debut on stage based on Nicky Hornby‘s 1992 book Fever Pitch.

The bestseller takes an autobiographical look at the author’s lifelong relationship with the sport, particularly Arsenal, spanning from his heady introduction as a child all the way into his early 30s; by recounting his memories of particular matches, he interconnects how those moments played into his personal life.

The stage version features 16 original songs, integrating popular football chants into the chorus, including “We love you Arsenal, we do”, “We’re the North Bank”, and “Arsenal ‘til I die”.

It was created by Scott Stroman, a former profes­sor at Guildhall School of Music and now the artistic director of Highbury Opera Theatre, and award-winning librettist Tamsin Collison. Around 40 youngsters from Highbury Youth Choir and local schools play the roles of fans.

The book was twice adapted into film: A 1997 film fictionalised Hornby’s work by focusing on a character named Paul Ashworth (Colin Firth) and his romance with a fellow teacher (Ruth Gemmell), set against the backdrop of Arsenal’s First Divison championship-winning season in 1988-89.

That film then received a US remake by the Farrelly Brothers, with Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore in the lead roles, and the sport in question shifted from football to baseball.

The news follows an increasing trend in the opera genre of widening its source material in an attempt to land wider appeal with audiences; in 2013, Breaking Bad was adapted into a mini-opera for the One World Symphony by its artistic director Sung Jin Hong, while Jerry Springer: The Opera and 2011’s Anna Nicole – about the tragic life of reality star and Playboy playmate Anna Nicole Smith – hit headlines upon their debuts.

Novels have also become a popular source of inspiration, with operas adapted out of the likes of The Great Gatsby, Alice in Wonderland, The Little Prince, 1984, and The Handmaid’s Tale.

Hornby himself has stated that he’s “delighted” that Fever Pitch has been transformed into an opera, set to run at Islington’s Union Chapel from 22-24 September.

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