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Scenic rendering of Act Four for this summer's production of CARMEN by designer Michael Raiford. |
Act I
Morales and other soldiers are outside of the guard house in Seville. A young woman, Micaëla, comes looking for her sweetheart, the corporal, Don José. She finds out he will be on duty later in the day and leaves. Additional guards, including Don José and his captain, Zuniga enter the square. At the stroke of noon, the cigarette-girls pour out of the factory; last of all comes Carmen. Scoffing at the men who crowd around her, Carmen notices Don José who is immediately drawn to her. As the cigarette-girls head back to work, Carmen approaches Don José and throws a flower at him. Micaëla returns, bringing Don José a message from his mother telling him to be true to his first love. She departs and Don José, while reading the letter, is filled with tender thoughts of earlier days; he denounces the passion inspired in him by Carmen. A sudden disturbance breaks out as Carmen has wounded a fellow worker in a quarrel. Don José is ordered by Zuniga to arrest her and take her to jail. His passion for Carmen overwhelms him and he allows her to escape, earning him imprisonment.
Act II
Two months later in Lillias Pastia’s Inn, Carmen and her friends, Frasquita and Mercédès, pass the time with a group of smugglers while waiting for Don José. The bullfighter, Escamillo, and his party enter bragging of adventures in the bullring. He becomes enamored of Carmen, who refuses his advances. Two gypsies enter to tell Carmen that she is needed but she refuses to leave without Don José. The others depart
and Don José enters, just freed from jail. Carmen dances for him, but when he suddenly hears the bugle announcing the “return to camp”, she becomes furious that he will leave her. He professes his passion for her and shows her the flower that he has saved. She insists that if he truly loves her, he will join her band of smugglers. José refuses to desert, but is forced to join them.
Intermission
Act III
The smugglers wait to sneak past the sentries. Carmen has tired of Don José, and he regrets having joined the smugglers. She torments him. The band leaves and Don José stays behind to guard the goods. Micaëla approaches searching for Don José. She hides as Escamillio arrives. Don José, on the lookout, fires at Escamillo who announces that he has come to meet his sweetheart, Carmen. A knife fight ensues. Carmen arrives and saves Escamillo’s life. The smugglers find Micaëla hiding, who implores Don José to hasten to his dying mother. He leaves but defiantly threatens Carmen that they will meet again.
Act IV
Outside the bullring in Seville, Carmen triumphantly enters with her latest conquest, Escamillo. Not heeding the warning that Don José lies in wait, Carmen fearlessly approaches him. Don José is overwhelmed with passion and implores Carmen to take him back. She rejects him, throwing the ring he had given her at his feet and proclaiming that she will love Escamillo to her last breath. Don José grabs Carmen in a jealous rage, and stabs her in the heart while Escamillo triumphs in the bullring.
Synopsis from the Schirmer edition of Carmen with edits by Director Daniel Pelzig.
