Faith No More Keyboardist Plans 'Sasquatch Love Story' Opera

Faith No More Keyboardist Plans 'Sasquatch Love Story' Opera:

A single-act opera that Faith No More keyboardist Roddy Bottum wrote will get its premiere in Brooklyn next month. Sasquatch: The Opera tells the story of how the daughter of a family who offers "Bigfoot Tours" of their town runs away with a real yeti. "Part folklore, part love story, the opera follows the demise of the family and a taboo love affair that blossoms in its aftermath," reads the listing on Experiments in Opera, which will present the production, along with six other one-act operas, over two nights.

"It's not a traditional opera – it's more like weird little operettas," the keyboardist, who also plays in Imperial Teen, told Noisey recently. "I grew up in Los Angeles, but I moved to New York specifically to get into opera, and I had this preposterous idea for a Sasquatch love story.... It's just gonna be three scenes from the opera, but then I'm gonna elaborate on it and build it into a bigger production."

When Noisey asked why Bottum would want to write a whole opera about bigfoots, the keyboardist said his favorite characters are "gentle giants" – "a misunderstood monster who it turns out is very sensitive and has a high intellect" – and cited Frankenstein's monster and the Elephant Man as examples. "It felt like Sasquatch could satisfy that really well," Bottum said. "I'm moved by the big thug who has a heart of gold."

Sasquatch: The Opera is part of Experiments in Opera's "Story Binge," which runs at Brooklyn venue Roulette on April 1st and 2nd.

Faith No More's first new album since 1997, Sol Invictus, is due out May 19th. The group is set to embark on its first North American tour since 2010 next month.

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