The Cast:

Soldiers, young men, cigarette factory girls, Escamillo's supporters, Gypsies,
merchants and orange sellers, police, bullfighters, people, urchins

(Production and Artists subject to Change)

Production Crew:

The Story

     This seductive tale begins outside a tobacco factory in Seville where soldiers gather to stand guard and ogle the female passers-by. 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, but only José, who appears disinterested, interests her, and she expresses her interest by throwing him a flower before she returns to her work. When Carmen injures another woman in a fight, Don José’s superior orders him to arrest her, but she mesmerizes him with a song implying that he will be her next lover. He unties her hands, thus allowing her to escape, and is then arrested for his defiance. Thus the stage is set for one of the most electrifying, sensual, and tragic love stories in the operatic repertoire. As Don José’s infatuation with this exotic woman deepens, he finds himself increasingly willing to betray his duties and principles in the name of his love, but can this fiercely independent woman ever return the sentiment? An all-star cast headlines this new production of Bizet’s masterpiece, a dazzling performance that simply cannot be missed.
View an extended synopsis of Carmen

Star and Conductor Bio

	Audrey Babcock (mezzo-soprano) Carmen          Audrey Babcock is quickly gaining momentum as a fresh, vibrant interpreter of Carmen, having performed this demanding role with San Antonio Opera, Toledo Opera, and the Westfield Symphony. She has recently performed as Maddelena with Florida Grand Opera, and in the 2007-2008 season, Ms. Babcock appeared as Aldonza/Dulcinea in The Man of La Mancha with Lyric Opera of San Diego and as Flora in La Traviata with Cincinnati Opera. She was also featured in a televised concert series of Russian composers with opera legend Regina Resnik, pianist Milos Repicky, and violinist Annaliesa Place. In seasons prior, Ms. Babcock performed as Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana with Washington Concert Opera, as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd with Wolf Trap Opera, and as Lucretia in The Rape of Lucretia in the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Artists showcase. In addition to performances with the New York City Opera, Seattle Opera, and The New World Symphony, Ms. Babcock is equally noteworthy in her symphonic concert and recital engagements, including Verdi’s Requiem with the Charleston Symphony and West Virginia Symphony among many others.
	Richard Crawley (tenor) Don José          Tenor Richard Crawley has sung in opera houses throughout the United States, including most recently the title role in Mascagni’s Il Piccolo Marat at Avery Fisher Hall with Teatro Grattacielo. He is a frequent performer with San Francisco Opera, singing as Cavaradossi in Tosca opposite Carol Vaness and appearing in Eugene Onegin, Le Grand Macabre, Dr. Atomic and Norma, as well. No stranger to the international stage, Mr. Crawley has also sung the role of Enée in Les Troyens with the Stars of the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg as well as the role of Don José in Carmen in Athens, Greece, opposite Denyce Graves. Other performances include the roles of Des Grieux in Manon Lescaut and Don José with Hawaii Opera Theatre, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with the Chautauqua Opera as well as Dayton Opera, Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera with Opera Santa Barbara, Cavaradossi in Tosca with Hawaii Opera Theatre, the title role of Faust at Portland Opera, and Otello with the Oakland East Bay Symphony.
	David Lara (bass-baritone) Escamillo           A native of Kansas, David Lara recently completed his second summer as an apprentice with Santa Fe Opera where he covered the title role in Don Giovanni, the High Priest in Alceste and Robert Crosbie in the World Premier of The Letter by Paul Moravec. Prior to his appearance in Santa Fe he performed with Seattle Opera's Young Artist Program for two seasons in the roles of Sam in Trouble in Tahiti, Ford in Verdi's Falstaff, Escamillo in Carmen and Woton in an adaptation of Wagner's Rheingold. While living in Kansas he was also an apprentice with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City where he was awarded the Kaplan Prize and was seen as Kromov in The Merry Widow, Silvano in Un Ballo in Maschera, Morales in Carmen and Hosie in Floyd's Cold Sassy Tree. Mr. Lara sang the role of Iron Hans in Susa's Transformations with Merola Opera in 2006 where he also performed the role of Figaro in scenes from The Barber of Seville.
	Steven Mercurio Conductor          Maestro Steven Mercurio is an internationally acclaimed conductor and composer whose musical versatility encompasses both the symphonic and operatic worlds. Maestro Mercurio is also a sought after collaborator for many award winning recordings, arrangements and film projects. His engagements have taken him to many of the world’s best loved opera houses including the Teatro dell’Opera in Roma, the Teatro Bellini in Catania, and the English National Opera; in addition, he has performed with American opera companies in San Francisco, Washington, Pittsburgh, Dallas and Miami. Maestro Mercurio has also appeared with such symphonic organizations as the London Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and many others. He has conducted opera and symphonic pieces for several telecasts including the “Christmas in Vienna” series with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra for Sony Classical highlighted by the 1999 concert featuring “The Three Tenors.” He also conducted the now classic PBS broadcast special “American Dream – Andrea Bocelli’s Statue of Liberty concert” with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra.
	James Marvel Stage Director           Renowned stage director James Marvel returns to Wichita Grand Opera after directing last season’s production of The Barber of Seville. Since his professional directing debut in 1996, Mr. Marvel has directed over 60 productions in the United States, England, Scotland, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. Mr. Marvel recently made his Italian debut in Sulmona, Italy directing La Bohème. His new production of Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress for the San Francisco Opera Merola Program was named "Best Production of the Year" by the San Francisco Chronicle. He also served as Co-Director with Henryk Baranowski at Teatr Wielki in Lodz, Poland on Philip Glass' Akhnaten, which won 2 Golden Mask Awards for Best Direction and Best Production of the Year.
	Stacey Canterbury (soprano) Micaëla           A performer of “passion and expression” (The Colorado Springs Gazette), this native of Charleston, West Virginia is most renowned for her recent performances in the Italian repertoire, including the title role in Aida with Opera Fort Collins, Anna Maurrant in Street Scene with Opera Theatre of the Rockies, and the role of Mimi in La Bohème with Denver Opera Company. Ms. Canterbury has performed numerous principal roles with Tri-Cities Opera, including Micaëla in Carmen, the title role in Suor Angelica, and Marguerite in Faust. In addition, she sang Leonora in Il Trovatore with Opera Fort Collins and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Opera Colorado. She has performed as a member of the Opera Colorado Outreach Ensemble and as a Resident Artist with the Tri-Cities Opera in Binghamton, NY. Ms. Canterbury’s awards include placing as a finalist in the Denver Lyric Opera Guild Competition and the Metropolitan Opera Colorado/Wyoming District, the Tri-Cities Opera guild Scholarship Award and the Adele Bernstein Award. This performance marks her debut with Wichita Grand Opera.
	Michael Nansel (baritone) Zuniga           Michael, a former resident of Wichita, returns to Wichita Grand Opera after singing the roles of Fiorello and the Sergeant in The Barber of Seville last season. Since 2004, he has performed with the Washington National Opera in the roles of the Major Domo in Andrea Chénier, the Bartender in the North American premiere of Sophie’s Choice, and Alcindoro in La Bohème, among others. He has received critical acclaim for his many performances. The Washington Post, reviewing his performance as Juan Peron in Evita, observing that “Nansel dominates the performances, displaying impressive dramatic range and a magnificent voice,” and the Arlington Sun Gazette said that Mr. Nansel, as Fred Graham in Kiss Me Kate, “can control the stage with his personality.” As comfortable with musical theatre as with the classical stage, Michael has performed as the title role in Sweeney Todd, Gaylord Ravenal in Show Boat, and Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music. He has also sung with Wolf Trap Opera and The Washington Savoyards.

Composer Bio

Georges Bizet was born at 28 rue de la Tour d'Auvergne in the 9th arrondissement of Paris in 1838. He was registered with the legal name Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, but he was baptised on 16 March 1840 with the first name Georges, and he was was always known thereafter as Georges Bizet. His father was an amateur singer and composer, and his mother was the sister of the famous singing teacher François Delsarte. He entered the Paris Conservatory of Music in 1848, a fortnight before his tenth birthday.

His first symphony, the Symphony in C Major, was written in 1855, when he was still only sixteen, evidently as a student assignment. It seems that Bizet completely forgot about it himself, and it was not discovered again until 1935, in the archives of the Conservatory library. Upon its first performance (February 26, 1935), it was immediately hailed as a junior masterwork and a welcome addition to the early Romantic period repertoire. A delightful work (and a prodigious one, from a seventeen-year-old boy), the symphony is noteworthy for bearing an amazing stylistic resemblance to the music of Franz Schubert, whose work was virtually unknown in Paris at that time (with the possible exception of a few of his songs).

At the Conservatoire Bizet studied under Fromental Halévy, whose daughter Geneviève he married in 1869. Halévy died in 1864, leaving his last opera Noé unfinished. Bizet completed it, but it was not performed until 1885, ten years after Bizet's own death.

In 1857, a setting of the one-act operetta Le docteur Miracle won him a share in a prize offered by Jacques Offenbach. He also won the music composition scholarship of the Prix de Rome, the conditions of which required him to study in Rome for three years. There, his talent developed as he wrote such works as the opera Don Procopio (1858-59). There he also composed his only major sacred work, Te Deum (1858), which he submitted to the Prix Rodrigues competition, a contest for Prix de Rome winners only. Bizet failed to win the Prix, and the Te Deum score remained unpublished until 1971. He made two attempts to write another symphony in 1859, but destroyed the manuscripts in December of that year. Apart from this period in Rome, Bizet lived in the Paris area all his life.

His mother died shortly after his return to Paris. He composed the opera Les pêcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers) for the Theatre Lyrique in 1863, which was an initial failure. He followed it with La jolie fille de Perth (premiered also in the Theatre Lyrique, in 1867), a symphony titled Roma (1868), and Jeux d'enfants (Children's games) for piano duet (1871).

The popular L'Arlésienne was originally produced as incidental music for a play by Alphonse Daudet, first performed on 1 October 1872. Bizet himself derived a suite from the music (first performed 10 November 1872), and Ernest Guiraud later arranged a second suite; both these suites contain considerable rewriting of the original score.

That year (22 May 1872) also saw the production of the romantic opera Djamileh, which is often seen as a precursor to Carmen. His overture Patrie was written in 1873 (it had no connection with Victorien Sardou's play Patrie!). Carmen (1875) is Bizet's best-known work and is based on a novella of the same title written in 1846 by Prosper Mérimée. Bizet composed the title role for a mezzo-soprano.

Carmen was not initially well-received but praise for it eventually came from well-known contemporaries including Claude Debussy, Camille Saint-Saëns and Peter Illych Tchaikovsky. Johannes Brahms attended over twenty performances of it, and considered it the greatest opera produced in Europe since the Franco-Prussian war. The views of these composers proved to be prophetic, as Carmen has since become one of the most popular works in the entire operatic repertoire. However, Bizet did not live to see its success. He died from a heart attack at the age of 36 in Bougival (Yvelines), about 10 miles west of Paris. His death occurred on his sixth wedding anniversary, only a few months after Carmen's first performances. He was buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.