Making its debut in Paris at the Theatre du Chatelet a few months ago, The Fly has now migrated to the Mecca of class and culture… L.A.? Yeah, dude! Donning a black gown and high heels, I found myself amidst a sea of shorts, sandals and cell phones as I attended my very first formal opera in Downtown Los Angeles at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

I never thought I'd be reviewing opera, much less for Horror.com, but when genre deity David Cronenberg sings, I listen. (OK, he doesn't actually go a cappella here, but he is the director of this spooky stage enactment, which based largely on his 1986 horror remake of the 50's sci-fi classic about a scientist whose DNA melds with that of a housefly.)

Cronenberg's live action libretto (composed in part by The Fly film's Howard Shore, with music conducted by Placido Domingo and words by David Henry Hwang) encompasses everything operatic and horrific: love, tragedy, melodrama, transformation, weird science, and even mushy monkeys. It's got everything a fan of the films will expect, including the iconic telepods, the secret experiments gone wrong, and of course the bone-crushing, mind-bending morph of hombre to housefly.

Starring bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch as Seth Brundle and mezzo-soprano Ruxandra Donose as Veronica Quaife, the action is set in the 50s like the first Fly flick (and short story from 1957 by George Langelaan), but has a very 80s AIDS-parable ala the remake. It starts off somewhat ponderously as the idealistic yet bitter genius woos the journalist with promises of a big story and shared body heat (reach for your opera-glasses! There is simulated sex and nonchalant nudity in The Fly), but the spirit of the performers sustains the exposition.

The stilted operatic singing style of the lead actors is hardly akin to a double bill of Ozzy Osbourne and Lita Ford, but there's a helpful read-a-long at the top of the stage. Once I got used to the all the trilling and sustained notes, I found the lyrics were actually quite fun (and fun's poked at the cinematic origins of the play with playful lines like, "Help me!" and "Be afraid. Be very afraid."). Shore's musical score is dense and layered, with plenty of helpful foreshadowing that's probably more palatable to the curious cinematic crowd than the seasoned opera aficionado.

The laboratory set design by Dante Ferretti is absolutely stunning (not to mention dramatically and beautifully lit) and is easy to see even from far away. There's much smoke and mirrors (literally), but no attempt is made to hide the fact that Okulitch has an acrobatic double doing his insect-like ceiling-clinging.

After a brief intermission, the true horror story comes to the fore as Okulitch dons special makeup and prosthetics as "Brundlefly" and gives an outstanding performance as his own tortured creation. Quaife is equally sympathetic as the terrified yet torn lover and reporter.

The Fly: The Opera is definitely worth a look for curious fans of the movies (and don't forget to bring your donuts!).

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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson

The Fly runs at Los Angeles Opera, through Sept. 27. (213) 972-8001, or laopera.com