Tickets On Sale Today For Final Benefit Performance Of CARMEN JONES

Carmen Jones, starring Tony Award winner Anika Noni Rose, will end its triumphant limited engagement on Sunday, August 19th with a special benefit performance at 3 pm at CSC (136 East 13th Street). The performance will benefit the company's Emerging Artist Development program. Directed by CSC's Tony Award-winning Artistic Director John Doyle and choreographed by Tony Award winner Bill T. Jones, Carmen Jones features book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and music by Georges Bizet. Joining Rose in the cast of Carmen Jones are David Aron Damane (Husky Miller), Erica Dorfler (Myrt), Clifton Duncan (Joe) Andrea Jones-Sojola (Sally), Justin Keyes (Rum), Lindsay Roberts (Cindy Lou), Soara-Joye Ross (Frankie), Lawrence E. Street (Dink) and Tramell Tillman (Sergeant Brown). Carmen Jones is presented in association with Alan D. and Barbara Marks, Eric Falkenstein, and Covent Garden Productions.

Tickets for the final performance are priced at $150 ($70 tax deductable) and $200 ($120 tax deductible), with a special champagne toast in the theater immediately following the performance. For tickets, visit classicstage.org, call (212) 352-3101 or (212) 677-4210 ext 10, or in person at the box office (136 East 13th Street).

The NY Times called the production "Glorious! John Doyle's transformative revival is sublime. Carmen Jones is smashingly effective, thrillingly embodied by Anika Noni Rose." (NY Times Critic's Pick). The Hollywood Reporter said, "Anika Noni Rose makes a dazzling return to the NY stage. Carmen Jones thrums with irresistible vitality." The Daily Beast wrote, "CARMEN JONES is a beautifully mounted production. The entire cast is sublime."

Set in the South as World War II rages overseas, Carmen Jones tells the story of a tempestuous ammunitions factory worker who ignites her own battle in a tragic love triangle with an airman and a prizefighter. Adapted from Bizet's legendary opera Carmen, Hammerstein shifted the story from Spain to World War II America, featuring an all African-American cast. Carmen Jones premiered on Broadway in 1943 and ran for over 500 performances. A 1954 film version, directed by Otto Preminger, starred Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte.

Scenic design for Carmen Jones is by Tony Award winner Scott Pask, costumes by Tony Award winner Ann Hould-Ward, lighting by Adam Honoré, sound by Dan Moses Schreier, hair and wig design by Mia Neal and casting by Telsey + Company. Music supervision and orchestrations are by Joseph Joubert.

CARMEN JONES performs Tuesday through Thursday evenings at 7 pm; Fridays at 8 pm; Saturdays at 3 and 8 pm and Sundays at 3 pm. Tickets are $70-$80. Prime seats are $125. For tickets, visit classicstage.org, call (212) 352-3101 or (866) 811-4111, or in person at the box office (136 East 13th Street).

Classic Stage Company, CSC, is committed to re-imagining classic stories for contemporary audiences. The company has been a home for New York's finest established and emerging artists to grapple with the great works of the world's repertory that speak directly to the issues of today. CSC serves an average of 35,000 audience members annually, including more than 4,000 students through its nationally recognized education programs. Productions have been cited repeatedly by all the major Off-Broadway theater awards including the Obie, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League, and the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work.