The opera originally premiered in France in 1875

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY — On the weekend of Oct. 19 and 20, the Performing Arts Center San Luis Obispo (PAC SLO) was transported to 1820s Seville, Spain, for Opera San Luis Obispo’s (OperaSLO) production of Georges Bizet’s famous opera “Carmen.” The production tells the fated story of gypsy Carmen, who first seduces the soldier Don Jose before then falling in love with bullfighter Escamillo. The story is one of drama and tragedy, and it unfolded over four acts with beautiful sets, memorable music, and an extremely talented cast.

“I’ve done many Carmens. I’ve never directed a Carmen. This is the first Carmen I’ve directed,” said guest Stage Director Dr. Joshua Wentz. “I’ve actually avoided it for many years because it’s got a huge chorus. The chorus is basically the main character. I mean, they’re on stage all four acts. If you don’t cut some of the chorus music and numbers, they sing for a substantial amount of the duration of the show. You have to have a really committed and strong chorus to do it, and so I haven’t had that luxury in the companies where I’ve worked and produced shows.”

The “Carmen” chorus, which featured 34 of the Central Coast’s most operatic voices, gave Wentz his dream cast to work with. On top of their incredible vocals, Wentz also focused on acting and movement with the chorus. He asked each singer to create a name and backstory for their persona on stage, and it showed on stage how everyone interacted with the principal roles. The character work added an extra vibrancy to the production and enhanced the emotional impact of the chorus’s beautifully blended vocals.  

“I come as a singer, and a lot of directors come as an acting coach or from the theatre side, but I come from the music background,” added Wentz.

The famous opera also featured the OperaSLO Children’s Chorus, which put 20 youngsters on stage with seasoned adults. Under the music direction of Maestro Brain Asher Alhadeff, they held their own. Both the adult and thechildren’s chorus were their own stand-out characters in the production. Alhadeff also conducted a 53-musician Grand Orchestra, which is one of the largest in all of California’s opera circuit, under San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The musicians keep returning to play under Alhadeff because of the caliber of music he produces between the chorus, orchestra, and OperaSLO’s main players.

“It’s really nice when you get to come to a place where opera is your job, and singing is your job, but the people around you can make it fun,” stated Christina Pezzarossi, who played the titular role of Carmen, working with OperaSLO for the first time. “Your job is no longer a job; it’s actually a fun job.”

Pezzarossi, a doctorate student at UCSB in Voice Performance, gave audiences a nuanced Carmen who knew her power and interacted with the other characters with a flair that pulled you right in. And her vocals soared as she performed vocal gymnastics through “Habanera” and all of her other well-known arias.

“I think this is probably my favorite role I have done,” continued Pezzarossi. “She is very complex. I feel like she is somebody who could exist 100 years ago, or could exist now, or could exist in 100 years later. You can really find ways to connect with her, even in her best moments and her worst moments. Just the confidence that you kind of have to embody really helps your own life. She really is the most secure character in opera.” 

Dominic Salvati also gave a moving performance as Don Jose, the tortured soldier who unwittingly falls in love with Carmen when she seduces him before that love spirals into an unhealthy obsession. The tenor shone as he sang alongside Pezzarossi and pulled on the audience’s emotions as the opera sped toward its tragic end.

“The cast is phenomenal. Really, really good singing. OperaSLO is really fun to work with,” said Gabriel Manro, who played bullfighter Escamillo.

Manro was originally born in Templeton and grew up in Atascadero before moving to Los Angeles. This was his fourth return to the OperaSLO stage alongside his wife, stage manager Justine Prado Manro, who he met while performing for OperaSLO.

“It’s a fun role. You know, it’s your classic baritone role,” Manro said of playing Carmen’s other love interest, Esscamillo. “Very often, the baritone plays kind of a Lothario, a full of himself, kind of like a Gaston character. It’s that classic swaggering baritone. He really is the perfect match for Carmen because she is the female version of that. Just very self-assured.”

Over the four acts, Pezzarossi, Salvati, and Manro took the audience on a dramatic and chaotic journey as the webs they wove around each other unraveled, giving us what was originally one of the first onstage deaths in opera when”Carmen” premiered in France in 1875. A fact that OperaSLO didn’t shy away from.

“I think it adds to the drama. It also adds to how much you feel for Carmen and how much you feel for such a flawed character because we are all humans, and we are all flawed,” Pezzarossi added about Carmen’s onstage death at the hand of Don Jose as she tries to reunite with Escamillo.

OperaSLO will return to PAC SLO on Saturday, May 17, and Sunday, May 18, 2025, with Meredith Willson’s “The Music Man.”

Featured Image: Carmen, played by Christina Pezzarossi (center), and friends sing in Lillas Pastia’s Inn before bullfighter Escamillo enters the picture. Photo by Michelle Evans.