Miami performances are at the Sanford and Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, 1300 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami.

Fort Lauderdale performances are at the Au-Rene Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW 5th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale.

Children must be at least six years old to attend.

FEATURED ON-SITE DINING

Carmen

by GEORGES BIZET

No opera is more requested. No opera is so anticipated. And no opera is more beloved than Carmen! Carmen, the fiery gypsy cigarette girl, gets any man she wants—and then gets rid of him when a better one comes along. When she sets her sights on Corporal Don José, he doesn’t stand a chance. He’s smitten and gives up everything—his career, his mother, even the girl he’s going to marry—to be with the sultry siren. For a while, they revel in passion. But then Carmen meets a famous matador and dumps Don José in a heartbeat. This time, though, she has finally pushed a man too far! Join us for this traditional presentation filled with characters you’ll love and music you’ll never forget.

Sung in French with English and Spanish projected titles

Photo © Karen Almond for Lyric Opera of Kansas City

ACT I
A plaza in Seville. A country girl, Micaëla, approaches some soldiers in search of Don José. The men try to persuade her to wait with them. She says she will return.

Don José arrives. When the cigarette factory bell rings, the women who work there emerge to smoke. Last to arrive is the gypsy Carmen, who teases the men with the possibility of her love. She throws a flower at José, who has pointedly ignored her, and reenters the factory.

Micaëla delivers a letter from José’s mother. After she leaves, José is persuaded by the letter to marry Micaëla. Suddenly, there is a commotion: Carmen and another woman have been fighting. Captain Zuniga sends José to arrest Carmen. She refuses to answer any questions, so Zuniga leaves José in charge while he prepares to have her jailed. Alone with José, Carmen persuades him to allow her to escape, promising that she will love him. José unties her. Carmen pushes him over and escapes. José is arrested.

ACT II
Lillas Pastia’s inn, one month later. Carmen and her friends Frasquita and Mercédès entertain the customers. Zuniga tells Carmen that José finished his jail term. He suggests that she could do better than a mere corporal, but she affirms that she is currently in love.

A crowd is heard cheering Escamillo, a famous toreador, who enters and entertains the crowd. He flirts with Carmen, but she indicates that she is taken at the moment. As he leaves, Escamillo invites Carmen and her friends to come see him in the ring. When the last customer has left, Le Dancaïre and Le Remendado try to persuade the women to join them on a smuggling expedition. Frasquita and Mercédès agree, but Carmen refuses because she is in love. José’s voice is heard approaching the inn, and the friends leave Carmen alone.

Carmen greets José. He interrupts her when he hears the summons to quarters. Carmen tells him never to come back. He pulls her flower from his jacket and tells her that only the flower’s fragrance and the anticipation of her love made his jail term bearable. He swears he loves her. In that case, she says, he should desert and come with her to the freedom of the mountains. José refuses and is about to leave when Zuniga returns and derides Carmen’s choice of men. José attacks Zuniga. Only the return of the smugglers prevents bloodshed. José, now a deserter, no longer has any option but to join Carmen and the smugglers.

ACT III
The smugglers’ hideout in the mountains. The smugglers stop to rest before making a night border crossing. José’s homesickness and jealousy have stifled Carmen’s love. When she and her friends read their fortunes, Mercédès sees true love, Frasquita sees riches, but Carmen can see only death—for herself and for José. As the smugglers leave, they post José as lookout over the campsite.

Micaëla arrives and prays for courage. A gunshot frightens her into hiding. Escamillo arrives and tells José that he has come to find Carmen since he knows she cannot still be in love with the deserter. Infuriated, José challenges Escamillo to a duel. Once again, the smugglers’ arrival ends a fight. Escamillo leaves, inviting all those who love him to come see him in the ring in Seville.

Micaëla is discovered and tells José she was sent to bring him home because his mother is dying. As Escamillo’s voice is heard in the distance, José threatens Carmen once more and then leaves with Micaëla.

ACT IV
Outside the bullring in Seville. A festive crowd celebrates. Carmen enters on Escamillo’s arm. Frasquita and Mercédès warn Carmen that José is nearby, but Carmen refuses to hide from him.

José appears. Carmen tells him she has only ever been faithful to herself. As José’s desperation rises, Carmen tells him to kill her or let her go. He stabs her and cries out, horrified at what he has done.