By OnMilwaukee Staff Writers   Published May 18, 2003 at 5:21 AM

The Skylight Opera Theatre will celebrate its 45th season with six performances, including the world premier of Rachel Portman's "The Little Prince."

The season will open with "The Fantasticks," June 12-August 3, 2003. For the first time, the Skylight offers a summer performance in the Cabot Theatre. This show is the longest running musical in the world and is the timeless tale of feuding fathers and young lovers. Ray Jivoff, Norman Moses and Kurt Ollmann star.

"Little Shop of Horrors" will run September 26-October 12, 2003. This horror comedy is a gleefully gruesome musical about fame, fortune, love and a man-eating plant named Audrey II.

To close out the year, "The Christmas Schooner" will run from November 28-December 21. This holiday musical is based on the true story of a shipping captain who braves Lake Michigan to bring Christmas to homesick German families at the turn-of-the-century.

"Romeo and Juliet" will kick off the New Year, running from January 30-February 15, 2004. This new adaptation weaves Shakespeare's words with French composer Charles Gounod's operatic score. This opera, directed by Paula Suozzi, features romantic love scenes and exciting sword fights.

The world premiere of a new opera, "The Little Prince," will run March 12-18, 2004. Based on the nook by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, "the Little Prince" is the tale of a pilot whose plane lands in the Sahara desert where he meets a mysterious little prince.

Finally, "Anything Goes" will run from May 21-June 13, 2004. Features Cole Porter songs like "You're the Top," "I Get A Kick Out Of You" and "Blow Gabriel Blow."

For more information, call (414) 291-7811, ex. 240.