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Kanye West Opera at Hollywood Bowl ... Doesn't Appear on Stage, Plays Narrator

UPDATE

7:52 PM PT -- The opera just wrapped, and Kanye's audience didn't get a glimpse of Ye until the final bow. Instead, he played narrator for the show from behind the scenes. As you can see, the visuals were stunning, with the most attention on Kanye's choir. We're told Brad Pitt was among the celebs in attendance.

UPDATE

Kanye West's opera, Nebuchadnezzar, is officially underway at the Hollywood Bowl -- and based on what we can see so far ... it's pretty epic.

Ye's got his Sunday Service choir collective gathered at the Bowl, as well as singer Peter Collins and the music group Infinity's Song on hand ... who are expected to be part of the performance. Longtime collaborator Vanessa Beecroft is directing the opera.

Early footage we got a hold of shows Kanye bringing the dialogue ... and it's a totally full house.

Lakewood Church

This, of course, comes after Kanye and his choir put on a stupendous performance last week at Joel Osteen's megachurch in Houston. That show went on for 2 plus hours, but there was never a dull moment. It also brought in a record number of viewers across the board.

Invite artwork by Nick Knight pic.twitter.com/U7IBqe1Gxk

— ye (@kanyewest) November 17, 2019

Ye's opera is based on a biblical story of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar from the Book of Daniel. He's often remembered as the destroyer of Solomon's temple, who went on to hold Jews captive in the city after taking Jerusalem by siege.

Hefty stuff ... so it should make for some good operatic theater.

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