Billy Corgan and Lyric Opera team up to reimagine 'Mellon Collie'

CHICAGO - At first, it might seem like an odd coupling—Chicago alt rock icon Billy Corgan collaborating with the Lyric Opera—but it could turn out to be a marriage made in music heaven, one that transforms both opera and rock.

What we know:

In 1995, the Smashing Pumpkins took the music world by storm with their ambitious double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Nearly 30 years later, Billy Corgan says he was at a production of Mozart's Requiem at the Lyric when he got the idea for a unique 30th anniversary idea – to adapt his rock album for opera.

Just... don’t call it a rock opera.

"The first thing I said to Lyric was I don’t want this to be ‘opera goes rock,’" Corgan told Fox 32 Chicago during a recent one-on-one at Madame Zuzu’s Tea Emporium, the eatery and venue he owns with his wife Chloe.

"My fans don’t want to see it, opera fans don’t want to see it. We have a unique opportunity to recast my work thematically and aesthetically in a totally different set of musical destinations."

He says he is still working on modifying hit rock and metal tracks like Tonight, Tonight, Bullet with Butterfly Wings and 1979 into classical arrangements – but says he's confident it'll translate.

"The album was written as a mythical 24 hours in a day in someone's mind," Corgan said.

Lyric Opera general director John Mangum says he jumped at the chance to produce the show when presented with the pitch.

"Mellon Collie has so much incredibly rich musical material, it provides a real buffet of things for them to work on and adapt for the orchestra and the chorus," Mangum said.

Both Mangum and Corgan say they hope to bring together two different fan bases that might not necessarily often interact.

"I want the donor class of the Lyric to be really comfortable to have a beautiful evening to say 'this is really fun and interesting,’" Corgan said. "At the same time, a rock crowd needs to come in and mingle and find common ground... as a musician, you want that, everybody coming together."

Mangum says news of the production has been met with universal positivity among the wealthy patrons and donors who are used to more traditional productions, like La Bohème or The Barber of Seville.

"They love that we're working with Billy because Smashing Pumpkins came out of Chicago, so there’s a real sense of civic pride," Mangum said. "And they love that we're doing something different."

What's next:

The Lyric is about ready to hold auditions for several roles. One that's already cast – Billy himself, who's performed for millions of fans across the globe – but never quite like this.

"I really look forward to standing there singing with a full choir behind me and a full orchestra," Corgan said.

Tickets for A Night of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness go on sale Friday.

Watch the full interview below.