A professional presentation of the opera "The Tragedy of Carmen," a scaled-down, 90-minute version of Georges Bizet’s classic work, will be presented at 7 p.m. Feb. 28 at North Christian Church in Columbus.
Indianapolis resident Rory Willats, who was raised in Columbus and has worked on operas from coast to coast, has spearheaded the effort to bring the show here for several months, with mostly Indiana University music and other students or graduates forming the cast and crew. Others are from locales ranging from Franklin to Chicago. Willats most recently served as the assistant stage director for "Candide" at Des Moines Metro Opera.
"We are set up for something really special," Willats said, speaking from his home in Indianapolis.
Making it special enough is the fact that IU’s Jacobs School of Music is still ranked among the nation’s best.
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The show’s organizers describe its mission on the website thetragedyofcarmen.com: "We are a team of artists united by the drive to break opera out of the museum glass and bring it back into the cultural life of our community … ."
The performance will be sung in French with English subtitles. The show is described as "a high-intensity, high-stakes, … all-out battle for love and freedom." It tells the story of the downfall of Don José, a naïve soldier who is seduced by the wiles of the fiery gypsy Carmen.
"Piece by piece, this is all happening," Willats said. "I’ve stopped by the space a couple of times … and I can’t imagine how overwhelming it is going to be when the singers fill that space with sound."
Other arts groups who have used North Christian through the years for performances have lauded it for its in-the-round visibility and solid acoustics. The performance also surfaces at a time when church leaders are working to make the church building more available for a wide range of uses and a varied collection of groups, especially arts organizations.
Longtime Columbus resident John Pickett was executive director of the Indianapolis Opera for 17 seasons. He sees the show as significant, especially for a smaller community the size of Columbus. Indianapolis Opera presented the same production.
"It’s all the great hits of ‘Carmen’ without the large chorus and the large orchestra, so it’s much more manageable financially," Pickett said. "But if it’s done well, and I certainly expect that it will be, it can be a really satisfying experience for people."
Pickett called North Christian a perfect setting for what he described as "an intimate piece."
"It’s very accessible for people who want to try opera (for the first time)," Pickett said.
And Willats said that is very much the idea with the upcoming production.
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What: A professional, abridged adaptation of composer Georges Bizet’s "The Tragedy of Carmen"
When: 7 p.m. Feb. 28
Where: North Christian Church, 850 Tipton Lane in Columbus
Tickets: $20 for students and $28 for the general public
Information: thetragedyofcarmen.com
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