The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that McAnuff will stage the 1925 work for the company's 2007 season. The opera's general director, Ian Campbell, told the paper, "I have wanted Des to do something for us for a long time. I'm pleased we were able to work out our schedules for this collaboration that I know will be an exciting production." Wozzeck will mark McAnuff's debut production with the opera company. San Diego Opera's Scenic Studio will build the sets for the production, and the company will also create the costumes.

Alban Berg's 1925 opera Wozzeck is based on the play of the same name by Georg Büchner. Set in Germany in the 1830's, the violent opera, which features a murder and suicide, concerns the descent of a dehumanized soldier named Wozzeck who is jealous of his wife. Wozzeck will be presented at the San Diego Opera in April 2007.

Des McAnuff, who is the artistic director of the La Jolla Playhouse, won Tony Awards for Best Director for the original production of Big River and The Who's Tommy. He is also scheduled to helm Frank Wildhorn's Broadway-bound musical Dracula.