VIDEO : Sofia Coppola to Direct the Opera 'La Traviata' in Rome in May

ROME Academy Award winner Sofia Coppola will make her operatic debut in May, directing a new production of Guiseppe Verdi's romantic tragedy "La Traviata", Rome's opera house said on Monday. Coppola, who won the gold statuette for the screenplay of the 2003 film "Lost in Translation", was invited to direct the production by its patron, fashion designer Valentino Garavani, the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma said in a statement. Garavani asked the American film director and producer to swap screen for stage after watching her 2006 historical drama "Marie Antoinette", in which the theater said she balanced "the classic and the modern".