Opera of the week: The Perfect American, London Coliseum, London WC2

Thursday 30 May 2013 15:40 BST

The creative team behind The Perfect American have had to find their own ways of animating Walt's world without using any actual Disney imagery (Teatro Real)

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Based on Peter Stephan Jungk's fictionalised account of Walt Disney's dying days, the latest of Philip Glass's operas offers a mythic portrait of the megalomaniac behind Main Street USA's most beloved cartoon characters.

Yet, thanks to copyright control, the creative team behind the opera's UK premiere – starring former Harvey and the Wallbangers baritone Christopher Purves – have had to find their own ways of animating Walt's world without using any actual Disney imagery.

Given director Phelim McDermott's spectacular puppet-enhanced staging of Glass's Gandhi portrait, Satyagraha, Mickey's loss might well be our gain.

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Opera of the week: The Perfect American, London Coliseum, London WC2

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