NEW YORK (AP) -- Evil is so good.

For more than two hours, Eric Owens stalked the stage as a slimy beast in the New York premiere of Oscar-winning composer Elliot Goldenthal's opera "Grendel: Transcendence of the Great Big Bang."

Besides slaying one hero and attacking the king's wife in her bedroom, the bass-baritone stole the show Tuesday night at the New York State Theater in the centerpiece of the two-week Lincoln Center Festival.

Owens' deep, powerful voice dominated the 2 1/2-hour performance. His acting depicted one of those depraved beings you just have to love. At times he's campy, with monster-mash dancing; other times he's creepy. Ultimately, he's pitifully tragic.

Owens did have help from a fine cast of singers and dancers, including Raymond Aceto, Richard Croft, Jay Hunter Morris, Laura Claycomb and mezzo Denyce Graves in a cameo appearance as the devilishly hot dragon with foot-long red fingernails who offers Grendel wicked advice.

He also got help from Donald Holder's dazzling light show and George Tsypin's giant set that worked without a hitch, unlike in May when a balky computer delayed the Los Angeles opera's world premiere by more than a week.

This imaginative opera, directed by Julie Taymor of "Lion King" fame, is based on the late John Gardner's novella "Grendel," which retells the Old English epic "Beowulf" from the villain's point of view. It's a tale of the outcast crying out for attention and acceptance, only to find death.

The grotesque creature, a descendant of the biblical Cain, awakens in the spring in his icy cave to start his 12th year of warring against King Hrothgar and his people. He recalls his childhood, when he is almost killed in a perverse game by a band of children.

"Why have I no one to talk to?" he laments in one mantra.

He eventually encounters the dragon, who protects her hoard of gold like the greedy serpent Fafner in Wagner's "Siegfried."

"Seek out gold -- but not my gold -- and sit on it," the dragon advises him.

Most of the libretto by Taymor and J.D. McClatchy is a monologue by Grendel. Written in the style of an Old English folk story, the lyrics are repetitive -- perhaps to aid the listeners' memory. They're largely in English, but Hrothgar's followers sing in a version of Old English as if to underline Grendel's alienation. Supertitles are projected, with a Flintstone-style font for the ancient dialect.

One problem is the first act has too many words and not enough action, although the choreography by Angelin Preljocaj is crisp and as eye-catching as the costumes by Constance Hoffman.

The score by Goldenthal, who won his Oscar for "Frida" and is Taymor's companion, serves the story well -- it's as dark as the plot and as meandering as the unrelenting stream of lyrics -- but you won't leave the theater whistling any melodies. It does have moments of tenderness, including a dreamy love scene that abruptly ends in the molestation of Hrothgar's queen. And it was artfully played by the New York City Opera Orchestra conducted by Steven Sloane.

There was no surprise ending -- Grendel is mortally wounded by Beowulf, portrayed in silence but with great fluidity by dancer Desmond Richardson.

"Is it joy I feel?" Grendel asks before leaping into the abyss. "Grendel's had an accident. So may you all."

Yes, Grendel finally felt joy. And so did we.

Additional performances of "Grendel" are scheduled for Thursday, Saturday and Sunday nights. The 10th annual Lincoln Center Festival continues through July 23.

On the Net:

http://www.lincolncenter.org/