A dark turn for Carmen

The end result was “Le Cabaret de Carmen,” an unconventional interpretation of “Carmen” set at a Paris cabaret in the 1920s.

What can audiences expect from your interpretation of “Carmen”?

In the 1980s, English director Peter Brook did an adaptation and rearranged the scenes to bring back the darkness of the original novella. In doing that, he also cut it down to about 90 minutes and cut out the chorus. What I’ve done is taken his score and replaced a lot of the spoken dialogue with our own dialogue, to highlight darkly comic overtones.

Will audiences recognize the opera?

Certainly. It’s all the big numbers, and I actually don’t think it’s that different. The context is different in that it’s a cabaret, and it has an early Parisian dance hall sound, but it’s still about a man driven mad with lust and his descent into the carnal being.

Why did you decide to seat the audience onstage?

I wanted the audience to feel like they’ve stepped into an early Parisian cabaret. It changes the whole experience of how audiences perceive opera because it’s so close and intimate. At the same time, it also changes how the singer performs. Every small facial gesture is seen, it’s much more like film acting because the smallest things will read in this space.

“Carmen” is a staple of the operatic repertoire; are you worried at all about reaction to your interpretation?

While it is “Carmen,” it’s not like any you’ve ever experienced. It’s a jolt into opera, particularly with this place. The opera is probably the most famous, and we wanted to find a new handle to provoke the audience.


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