Terry Gilliam on his role as director of Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust

FROM cartoons to animation to films and now opera. Terry Gilliam is to direct a new production of Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust.

A former member of the Monty Python comedy group, Gilliam is best known as the director of such cult films as Time Bandits, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The Fisher King, 12 Monkeys, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and, most recently, 2009's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

In his latest venture, he will direct The Damnation of Faust for English National Opera (ENO), based at the London Coliseum, St Martin's Lane, London. It opens on May 6.

ENO says the opera is the "perfect vehicle" for Gilliam's rich imagination.

In a new promotional video interview, he shares his thoughts on the upcoming production. The short film is included below, along with a full press release.

Here's the full press release:

ENO stages a new production of Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust directed by actor, screenwriter and film-maker Terry Gilliam. This large-scale company work ranges from intimacy to grandeur with a powerful score that showcases the ENO Chorus and Orchestra, conducted by ENO Music Director Edward Gardner, and featuring a stellar cast led by Christine Rice.

Terry Gilliam's vivid imagination and ability to bring his often surreal vision of the world to life is a trademark of his work. His iconic animation for Monty Python has led to an esteemed career in Hollywood, his films often demonstrating escape from society through eye-popping magical and surreal interpretations of reality - from Time Bandits and Brazil through to The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

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[Source: Coventry Telegraph - The Geek Files]