You May Think You Know Carmen...Think Again

Pensacola Opera Presents World Premiere of Bizet’s Classic Tale

by Alex Hilkey

You may think you know Carmen think again. Coming this fall to Pensacola as part of the 2024 Foo Foo Festival, Pensacola Opera will take over Seville Quarter to present a world premiere of one of the most famous operas of all time. On November 7, Bizet’s Carmen will be transformed into Carmen: The Traveler.

Carmen: The Traveler is a retelling of Bizet’s beloved opera Carmen, which is a dramatic tale of love, jealousy and tragedy with strong Spanish dance and culture influences in the score. Carmen: The Traveler transports the action from its original Nineteenth Century setting to the pre-war tension of 1930s Seville, Spain. A versatile cast of singer-instrumentalists will perform their roles while accompanying themselves on instruments including guitars, mandolins and accordions. This new format makes the experience immersive and captivating as the audience is meant to be patrons in a bar where the story is being told.

“This version is only an hour and ten minutes, with all the hits from Carmen. The musicians in both the orchestra and cast are stellar and sound sometimes like an orchestra, sometimes like a rock band and sometimes both combined. The combination of instruments creates a unique flavor of sound and has a more folk-like vibe. It is high-energy during some points and during others is sublimely beautiful. This will not be a typical opera experience and I believe will resonate with any crowd who sees it,” Pensacola Opera Artistic Director Corey McKern said.

“We had Cailtin and The Opera Cowgirls for our Foo Foo event Songs Down South last season. She mentioned that she had an idea for a new version of Carmen using modern instruments and with the cast playing. I thought it sounded like a great idea and looked for a way that we could possibly produce it,” McKern said. “A well known musician, Joe Brent, is attached to the pieces as well. He is truly a renaissance musician. He plays several instruments, is a well known mandolinist and is an arranger and composer. His and Caitlin’s knowledge and experience worked beautifully together and created this new version of Carmen! Our wonderful opera supporter, Allan Benton, sponsored a workshop in Brooklyn, NY, where we were able to present Carmen: The Traveler to its very first audience in a world-premiere workshop performance. We can’t wait to bring it home to Pensacola in November.”

Bizet’s Carmen is inspired by tales of scandal in Prosper Mérimée’s 1845 novella and follows Don José who falls under Carmen’s spell, sending him into a spiral that results in a fatally tragic ending.

“The story itself doesn’t differ much, though our setting focuses on Carmen’s background as a Romani woman and that her being sent to jail is because she is a ‘gypsy,’ not because she got in a fight at the cigarette factory (a plot point that was omitted from our production),” McKechney said. “For me, it takes away the focus of Carmen being a loose and morally low woman to being a victim herself. As a feminist, I think it provides a more interesting conflict for her character.”

Pensacola Opera is honored to have received this Foo Foo Festival grant to be able to bring this new work to the public. The evening itself, in true Pensacola Opera style, will be more than just a typical production. Enter and explore Seville Quarter in an immersion of Spanish culture complete with traveling Flamenco dancers, Spanish wine tastings and plenty of tapas to go around. Carmen: The Traveler will bring a celebration of new and traditional opera, Spanish culture and actor-singer-musicians in a way that is truly unique and the first of its kind.

Pensacola Opera has been fortunate to be the recipient of several Foo Foo Festival Grants and has enjoyed a long history of successfully presenting large scale events including previous Foo Foo Festival presentations of the Foo Foo Three Tenors concert at Maritime Park, From Sea to Shining Sea: A Musical Salute to Service at the Saenger Theatre, Forty Forward: Celebrating Four Decades of Opera at the Saenger Theatre, and last year’s Songs Down South.

“We anticipate that Carmen: The Traveler will be no different and bring in new audiences beyond Northwest Florida and marketed to a nontraditional opera audience. Pensacola Opera strives to welcome newcomers to opera and introduce them to the art form in a variety of settings. We hope to inspire a broader audience base and increase our relevance to communities. Created and workshopped especially for the 11th Anniversary of the Foo Foo Festival, this opera is unique throughout the country, with no other festival or arts organization having performed Carmen: The Traveler,” Pensacola Opera General Director Chandra McKern said.

Carmen: The Traveler will be held on November 7 at Seville Quarter as part of the 2024 Foo Foo Festival. Tickets and more information can be found online at pensacolaopera.com.