Celebrity Courtney Love, Opera Star? Rocker Headlines Off-Off-Broadway Musical "I play a rock star with a drug problem. And the research I have to do – it's so tough for me!" said Love, who stars in Kansas City Choir Boy in N.Y.C. By Jeff Nelson Jeff Nelson Instagram Twitter Jeff Nelson is the Senior News Editor, Entertainment at PEOPLE. For nearly a decade, he has worked across the brand's entertainment verticals, reporting on breaking news and writing and editing across platforms, as well as securing A-list cover exclusives, including Barry Manilow's coming out and an at-home interview with Madonna. Jeff has appeared as an expert on Good Morning America, Extra, HLN and SiriusXM, as well as at RuPaul's DragCon as a moderator. He studied magazine journalism at Drake University, graduating with a B.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication. People Editorial Guidelines Published on January 6, 2015 05:10 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Rocker chick, rebel – a lot of titles come to mind when thinking of Courtney Love, but musical theater star isn’t one of them. At least not yet! The Hole frontwoman, known for her hard-partying past and signature rasp, has headed to the stage in Kansas City Choir Boy, an off-off-Broadway pop opera that’s part of the Prototype opera and music theater festival in New York. “I play a rock star with a drug problem. And the research I have to do – it’s so tough for me!” Love, who got sober in 2007 after a long battle with addiction, told The New York Times. In the production (directed by Kevin Newbury with songs by Todd Almond), Love plays Athena, a singer from the Midwest who travels east to pursue fame. This isn’t the punk-rocker’s first venture into acting: Love, 50, has guest-starred on Sons of Anarchy and even scored a Golden Globe nod in 1996 for her turn as doomed wife Althea Flynt in The People vs. Larry Flynt. And Love says the transition from rock to theater isn’t a far stretch. “You’ve got to be in the moment for it to work. That is a rule for theater and a rule of rock. It’s universal,” she said. Love stars in Kansas City Choir Boy, playing at the HERE Arts Center in New York, through Jan. 17.