2009-2010 Performances: Carmen: Opera Story

Carmen Synopsis

Act I:
          Outside of a tobacco factory in Seville, soldiers are gathered. Micaëla, a peasant, inquires after Don José. The corporal, Morales, informs her that he is not on duty, and he and the other soldiers beckon for her to stay with them. Undaunted by their forward behavior, she runs away. Lieutenant Zuniga and Don José arrive to relieve the guard as the factory bell rings and the workers emerge. Carmen appears, and the men swarm to admire her. She refuses their offers of love with the famous Habanera. Only José appears uninterested, and she throws a flower at his feet. She and the other cigarette girls return to the factory. As José picks up the flower, Micaëla returns with a letter from his mother. Micaëla leaves, embarrassed, as his mother asks him to come home and marry Micaëla. Just as he begins to proclaim that he will be faithful to his mother’s wishes, there is a commotion at the factory. Carmen has injured another woman in a fight. Zuniga orders José to arrest her. Briefly left alone with her, Carmen mesmerizes him with a song implying that he will be her next lover. He unties her hands, thus allowing her to escape. He is then arrested for his defiance.

Act II:
          At Lillas Pastia’s inn, Carmen, together with her friends Frasquita and Mercédès, dance for the guests. Zuniga, while attempting to woo Carmen, informs her that Don José was released from prison that day. Famed bullfighter Escamillo enters, and flirts with Carmen, who refuses him for the time being. The crowd leaves with Escamillo, and Dancaïre and Remendado, two smugglers, arrive. Frasquita and Mercédès decide to join their efforts, but Carmen refuses, declaring, to the surprise of all, that she is in love. The smugglers and Carmen’s friends leave as Don José arrives. Though he expresses jealousy when she tells him that she danced for other soldiers, she alleviates this with a private dance. Bugles signal that he must return to the barracks; Carmen is angry that he would leave her. He shows her that he has kept the flower she threw to him while he was in prison. Unmoved, she demands that he desert his post and live with her as a gypsy. Though tempted, he refuses. Zuniga enters looking for Carmen. José ignores Zuniga’s orders that he leave, and draws his sword. Then the smugglers return, disarming both men. Because of his defiance of a superior officer, José has no choice but to leave with the smugglers and gypsies.

Act III:
          In the mountain hideaway of the smugglers, Carmen has tired of Don José, and tells him to return home to his mother. She then joins her friends Frasquita and Mercédès to read tarot cards. While her friends see wealth and love in their future, Carmen draws the death card. The smugglers set off with the contraband, leaving José as guard of camp. Micaëla appears, seeking José, but hides when she sees him firing his gun. Escamillo is the intruder, and he announces that he is Carmen’s new lover and then tells José about the deserter soldier that Carmen left for him. José, in a jealous rage, initiates a knife fight with Escamillo. The smugglers enter, and Carmen stops José from killing Escamillo. Micaëla comes out from hiding to tell José that his mother is dying. He agrees to go with her, but he vows to Carmen that he will return.

Act IV:
          The square in Seville is crowded with people going to the bullfight. Escamillo enters with Carmen, who is warned by Frasquita and Mercédès that José is present. She ignores their advice, and proudly announces her love for Escamillo. He enters the bull ring to the cheers of the crowd. José emerges and blocks Carmen from entering the arena. He asks her to leave behind the other men and begin a new life with him. Laughingly, she scorns his attempt, and throws the ring he had given her at his feet. Angrily, he grabs her as she tries to enter the arena, and stabs her to death at the same moment that Escamillo defeats the bull. In despair, Don José collapses next to her body and admits his guilt as the crowd exits the arena to see the grisly murder.