Moviemaker Woody Allen has been forced into honouring a promise to direct an opera - because he's not dead.The revered film mogul declined offers to take charge of an opera for years, while the head of Los Angeles Opera and Placido Domingo both urged Allen to reconsider.So, to keep everyone happy, the 72-year-old bowed to the pressure three years ago, thinking he'd be dead before he would have to honour his promise.He explains, "They got Billy Friedkin and another opera director to do the first two acts of a Puccini and I just have to do the third one and it's a funny one. It's a 55-minute opera with 10 people."I made this promise to do it three years ago and I thought I'd be dead in three years and it's never gonna happen so I said, 'OK.' Then, I didn't die and the time came and so I started work on this opera on Tuesday."And now Allen fears his operatic debut will be poorly received: "The opera is unlike the movies; they boo. I've been disliked but from a distance, but this is different."I'll give it my best shot... but I really don't know what to expect."

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