It’s been a fad of late for films, such as Legally Blonde and Beauty and the Beast, to be made into Broadway musicals, but a whole new precedent has been set now that the New York City Opera has commissioned Pulitzer-winning composer Charles Wuorinen to write an opera based on Brokeback Mountain, which was adapted for film from Annie Proulx's short story in 2005.

He has five years to whip the critically favored film into opera shape, as it’s scheduled to premiere in the 2013 spring season. It’s reported to be an attempt to breathe new life into one of New York’s most prominent cultural institutions.

The story certainly has all the drama and tragedy favored by opera composers and fans alike. It tells the story of forbidden love between two cowboys in the early 1960s. New York Opera officials doubtless hope it will spark fresh interest in opera in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.