Mastervoices Presents CARMEN Original Version In Sheldon Harnick's English Translation Next Month at Lincoln Center

MasterVoices begins its 2022-23 season on October 25 at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center with Ted Sperling leading a staged performance of Bizet's Carmen in its original Opéra Comique version, with dialogue rather than recitative, sung in an English translation by legendary Broadway lyricist Sheldon Harnick. The MasterVoices performance, suspended in March 2020 due to the pandemic, will mark the New York premiere of Harnick's full translation. His translation of Carmen was commissioned and premiered by the Houston Grand Opera in 1981 and served as the English text for Peter Brook's ingenious 90-minute La tragédie de Carmen which was performed at the Vivian Beaumont Theater in New York in 1984.

Joining the 120-member MasterVoices chorus and Orchestra of St. Luke's is mezzo soprano Ginger Costa-Jackson, "a singer, stylist and actress of tremendous gifts" (Opera Today), as Carmen. Terrence Chin-Loy, who possesses "a beautiful lyric tenor voice," (Opera News) is Don José. MasterVoices favorite, rising soprano Mikaela Bennett, who was featured in the chorus' A Joyful Noise concert last December at Carnegie Hall, sings the role of Micaëla; and baritone John Brancy, featured in MasterVoices' theatrical song cycle Myths and Hymns, which is nominated for a 2022 New York Emmy Award, appears as Escamillo. Sammi Cannold, recently recognized in Forbes Magazine's "30 Under 30 in Hollywood & Entertainment," directs, and the choreographer is Gustavo Zajac, who staged the dances for MasterVoices' 2015 The Pirates of Penzance.

On her approach to the project Ms. Cannold expressed: "I'm exceptionally excited to be bringing Carmen to life with MasterVoices and under Ted Sperling's tremendous leadership. This production aims to explore Carmen's relationship to freedom, manipulation, and liberation in service of probing at what power meant for women in 19th century Europe and more importantly, how we view that power now. Ted and I are so fortunate to be joined by such phenomenal performers as well as our choreographer Gustavo Zajac, whose work in the piece will revolve around bringing the above narrative to life through lyrical and flamenco dance."

Maestro Sperling says, "At MasterVoices, we enjoy performing in many genres, with a long tradition of blurring the line between opera and musical theater. Carmen was originally a piece of music theater, and only later became the grand opera we are most familiar with. I'm excited to perform it as originally conceived, and also to be presenting it in a sleek, modern dress production, with the orchestra visible, so that the audience can enjoy the intricacies of the orchestration. The intimate Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center is an ideal place to present the piece this way: the cast will practically be in the audience's lap! We will be making judicious edits in both score and dialogue, preserving the riches of the music while keeping the plot moving forward with great momentum under Sammi Cannold's direction."

CAST OF CHARACTERS

CARMEN Ginger Costa-Jackson (mezzo soprano)

DON JOSÉ Terrence Chin-Loy (tenor)

MICAËLA Mikaela Bennett (soprano)

ESCAMILLO John Brancy (baritone)

FRASQUITA Nicole Fernandez-Coffaro (soprano)

MERCEDES Kimberly Sogioka (mezzo soprano)

REMENDADO Zhengyi Bai (tenor)

DANCAIRO & MORALES Michael Kelly (baritone)

ZUNIGA Leo Radosavljevic (bass)

DANCERS: Camila Cardona, Laura Peralta, and Isaac Tovar