It's 'Carmen' Reimagined: Opera With a Spanish Soul Takes the Bay Street Stage

We may be heading into the quieter months of the year in these parts, but arts-wise, things are still going strong. And while on any given weekend there is a wide variety of entertainment genres to choose from locally, truth be told, opera isn’t typically among them.

But there is one organization that has made it a mission to bring opera to the East End on a regular basis, and this Saturday, September 13, at 8 p.m., Divaria Opera makes its tenth appearance in Sag Harbor when its new production “We Are Carmen (Somos Carmen)” hits the Bay Street Theater stage. The show is a multidisciplinary performance that celebrates the 150th anniversary of Georges Bizet’s “Carmen” by exploring the opera’s enduring influence on the music and dance of the Spanish-speaking world.

To that end, “We Are Carmen” features selections from Bizet’s original opera interwoven with works from Spain and Latin America. The production blends several artistic disciplines into one performance — not just opera and dance, but also zarzuela, a Spanish-language lyrical musical theater that Divaria Opera founder, soprano Ashley Bell, notes is rarely performed in New York and has probably never been seen on the East End.

The production also features choreography by the Long Island-based Sol y Sombra Dance Company with renowned Spanish dancer Paloma De Vega performing as a soloist and music by the New Asia Chamber Music Society.

Starring in the role of Carmen is someone who knows the opera and the zarzuela artform well — acclaimed mezzo-soprano Anna Gomà. A native of Barcelona, Gomà, who lives in Madrid, has performed at Teatro Real, Liceu Barcelona and Teatro Zarzuela, among other venues. She has appeared as Carmen in Bizet’s opera (which, ironically, is written in French) so many times that she has literally lost count and has also won several zarzuela prizes.

“Carmen is an acting role, and before I was an opera singer, I was an actress,” Gomà explained in a recent phone interview. “I love it, but you never stop learning. It’s a long role, it’s not easy — there are really powerful moments, and all the time you’re on stage. So, I keep preparing for Carmen. Maybe I’ll do no Carmens in one year, but I always have an eye to the score and am always reflecting and reading.

“I’ve also played the friend of Carmen, so I can see her through different parts of the opera,” she added.

Set in Seville, Spain, “Carmen” tells of a love triangle between the fiery, irresistible gypsy girl for whom the opera is named, and Don José, a naive soldier whose obsession with her leads him to abandon both his official duties and his fiancée, Micaëla. Though initially intrigued, eventually Carmen tires of Don José and instead falls for Escamillo, a glamorous bullfighter. In a jealous rage, Don José is driven to kill Carmen as the opera comes to a tragic end.

Though today it’s one of the world’s most popular operas, “Carmen” was a flop when it premiered in Paris in 1875. It’s initial failure was allegedly a source of despair for Bizet, who died three months to the day after its opening.

“It wasn’t successful, and legend has it, he had a heart attack,” Gomà explained. “He was sad because it was not successful. But it was composed for the comedic opera, where audiences were used to funny pieces. It’s very festive and has great moments of wit and is a lot of fun, but at the end, it’s not funny at all. There’s real meaning — and a message — and the end is traumatic. It was also very long, and it was a serious opera. Audiences were not used to that.”

Gomà explained that Bizet based “Carmen” on an 1845 novella of the same name by French writer Prosper Mérimée.

“He traveled to Seville and Andalusia and used some facts, explaining in a letter that he met a girl like Carmen,” Gomà explained. “But we’re not sure what’s real and what’s not.”

Though a failure in its Paris premiere, within 10 years, “Carmen” had gained a following throughout other parts of Europe with audiences appreciative of the exotic, if entirely fictionalized, depiction of Spanish culture in Bizet’s opera.

“It was a French composer looking at a Spanish story. Because it was not really real, it was not the Spanish way, but it’s a good topic and well done,” said Gomà, who recognizes irony in the fact that she is a Spanish woman portraying Carmen from Seville but singing in French. “There were attempts to sing it in Spanish, but it just doesn’t work.”

While “Carmen” has a decidedly tragic tone to it, Bell notes that the Divaria Opera production of “We Are Carmen (Somos Carmen)” is a family-friendly show and entirely appropriate for younger audiences.

“In our version, a narrator, a grandmother character, played by Debra Cardona, is telling the story to her granddaughter as one of Carmen’s friends who knew her when she was young,” Bell explained. “It doesn’t have the dramatic ending, so is accessible for young kids.

“It’s based on ‘Carmen,’ but it’s a bit different,” Bell added. “We don’t have all the characters. It’s really focused primarily on Carmen and her counterpart, Micaëla, who is her opposite, but we tried to find the commonality in these different women.”

“We want women to follow their path,” added Gomà. “This show really focuses on the women. Women have the power. The story starts with a teenager, the granddaughter, going through a difficult time, and we focus on that. It’s important that everyone has their own unique path and are not listening too much to the voices that surround you. It’s about focusing on you and listening to yourself.

“It’s an easy way to approach opera,” Gomà added. “It’s a nice show for people who are less used to opera and also teens.”

“Also, into this production we’ve incorporated some unique elements, like music in Spanish,” Bell explained. “It will include people performing zarzuela, which is a Spanish form of operetta. I’m so excited to share some of the Spanish rhythms.”

With this production of “We Are Carmen (Somos Carmen),” New York City-based Divaria Opera, which was founded in 2011, is continuing its mission of creating operatic offerings that are not only creative, but also accessible to audiences of all ages — including East End audiences.

“The first production we did at Bay Street was ‘La Traviata’ in 2015,’” Bell said. “I really feel when people are exposed to opera, it’s so visceral and really impactful. I wanted more people to experience that and not see it as a classist art form.

“It should be available to everyone,” she added, “especially on an intimate level — like at Bay Street, where the audience is seated right next to the performers, which you don’t get in large theaters.

“My goal is to expand to audiences who love musical theater and include opera as well,” Bell added.

In addition to the professional performers, “We Are Carmen (Somos Carmen)” incorporates the talents of local young artists who are students of Loreen Enright’s Southampton-based Cantabile Youth Chorus of the Hamptons. They are Jessica Berger, Charlotte Egerton-Warburton, Emma McGonegal and Southampton High School senior Hannah Pak, who plays the granddaughter in the production.

Tickets for Divaria Opera’s “We Are Carmen (Somos Carmen)” on Saturday, September 13, at 8 p.m. are $37 to $87 at baystreet.org or 631-725-9500. Bay Street Theater is on Long Wharf in Sag Harbor.