Toreador!
Don’t spit on the floor
Use the cuspidor
That’s what it’s a-fore

We went to see Opera Theater’s production of Carmen, which is performed in English, with captioning. Using both the English translation and subtitles made understanding this show’s performance so much easier. This productions was set in Franco’s Spain, rather than Bizet’s 19th-century original setting. I don’t think that this change of period either added or subtracted much from the opera’s story, but it definitely made the dresser’s job easier.

Carmen is easily Anne’s favorite opera and I enjoy it too. Kathy loved the show and Frank found it better than he expected. High praise from him. As always, Bizet’s music is to die for and I think that Carmen’s story has taken on new significance with the advent of the #MeToo movement. Carmen uses her sexuality as a tool, to get what she wants, but I think that she actually cares for Don José, at least for awhile. She is neither predator nor victim, but rather living her life as she sees fit. She does not deserve her fate, but neither does she shy away from it either. In a sense then, she is a modern woman, both strong and self-reliant and determined to make her own way in this world.