By Kathryn Olsen
At Salt Lake City’s Capitol Theatre, Peter Brook’s Le Tragedie de Carmen is closing out a memorable and mesmerizing season with the Utah Opera. This 1983 adaptation is a 90-minute modernization and abbreviation of the 1875 four-act opera with music by Georges Bizet and the libretto by Henri Meihac and Loudovic Halevi, which was based on a novella by Prosper Merimee. I, myself, have played the orchestral suite and enjoyed the Pablo Sarasate violin fantasy based on several of its tunes, but had never seen the original or adaptation performed.
While the original tells the complicated story of gypsy cigarette factory worker Carmen (Kirstin Chavez) and her lover Don Jose (Isaac Hurtado) in a story of crime, passion, and destiny in Sevilla, Spain, Utah Opera’s production brings the audiences to present-day Spanish Harlem. Don Jose aids Carmen in escaping a brush with the law and is forced to kill his superior officer Zuniga (Brandon Bell) in order to escape his subsequent imprisonment. Things are further complicated by the intrusion of two other men in Carmen’s life (Bell as Garcia and Efrain Solis as Escamillo) and the occasional attentions of Don Jose’s childhood sweetheart Micaela (Julia Gershkoff). Fate (Edith Grossman) plays an on-stage part from start to finish and this, more than anything, explains the reason for the reduction’s great emphasis on the tensions of the central love stories.
Chavez is perfectly at home in the title role, turning the original exotic flair of the character into a sultry influence. While the male characters often seem beguiled by her, she is the most emotionally honest in her portrayal and the rawness of her emotional arc is unfailingly compelling. She has a different approach to every man on the stage, but it reveals her to be a chameleon instead of implying malicious intent. Her skilled performance of such famous arias as Seguidilla and Habanera are integrated as essential storytelling, but Chavez also brings the audience into her confidence as she explains that “Love is like a wild child who does not understand the rules.”
Hurtado portrays Don Jose with acute intelligence and a growing sense of desperation that almost renders the storyline as a Greek tragedy. He is a man constantly torn in two, yet the audience is able to connect to his choice of paths because of Hurtado’s emotional intensity. Like a hero in a Greek tragedy, the audience can feel his sorrow while opposing his actions and this production’s Don Jose is an excellent casting choice. His powerful voice matches the sentiments of each turning point in a way that is always impactful for the audience.
When considering antagonistic forces, the audience needs to look no further than Bell. As both the officer who jails Don Jose for aiding and abetting Carmen’s escape and the cuckolded husband who should have her loyalty, Bell is expected to present each figure as someone with a clear-cut and absolute place in society and Bell is a master of this stage presence.
Gershkoff is the most sympathetic of the characters, reminding the audience of Don Jose’s more humble beginnings and a love that is more idealized. As Micaela, she bears a sweetness and charm that is overshadowed by Carmen’s boldness, but is no less vali an expression of adoration.
Lillas Pastia, the owner of a club that is one of Crmen’s haunts, is played briefly and brilliantly by Daniel O’Hearn. He is the comedic and relatable minor character and O’Hearn inhabits the role as a bon vivant. By striking contrast, Grossman is the specter at the feast and, as Fate, appears at each turning of the tide.
The visual presentation of Le Tragedie de Carmen is as riveting as the music and storyline itself. Rather than employ several sets, Lighting/Video Designer Tlaloc Lopez-Watermann uses projections and videos on folding backdrops to change settings as well as extend the stories. Physical confrontations on streets or vignettes of the central lovers outside of the ordinary interaction enhance what is already in the familiar storyline. The backdrop is home to the vibrant lighting of the club as well as votive candles that set the stage for the unhappy outcomes in the story. The costumes by Verona Green are distinctive and relevant to the setting while also giving hints to allegiances. The on-stage orchestra, conducted by Ari Pelto, flourishes in the parts where the musicians are the only sound in the theater, but also provide wonderful support to the solo and small-ensemble performances. In short, director Omer Ben Seadia creates an air of the mystical and familiar in this rendering of the beloved tale.
Masks are still required for all attendees and seats allow for social distancing between parties.
There are only four performances remaining, but it is well worth escaping into Spanish Harlem for a night. Intimacy and violence make it unsuitable for children, but more mature audiences will be enthralled by the experience of it all.
Utah Opera Presents Le Tragedie de Carmen; By Peter Brook.
Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre
50 West 200 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84101
May 8-16, 2021 7:30 PM, See website for individual performance times,
Tickets: $20-$110
www.usuo.org
Utah Opera Facebook Page
Le Tragedie de Carmen Facebook Event
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