Organization

Admin

Opera Australia

Stage director

Anne-Louise Sarks

Costume designer

Set designer (+1)

Marg Horwell

Set designer

Lighting designer

Lighting designer (+1)

Paul Jackson

Bass (+5)

Richard Anderson

Zuniga

Soprano (+1)

Jane Ede

Frasquita

Assistant Stage Director

Miranda Summers

Choreographer

Choreographer (+1)

Shannon Burns

Baritone (+3)

Phillip Rhodes

Escamillo

Stage director (+3)

Alexander Hargreaves

Dancaire

Jennifer Black

Michaela

Chorus

Opera Australia Chorus

Orchestra

Opera Australia Orchestra

Sydney Opera House

Mezzo-soprano (+6)

Helen Sherman

Mercedes

Bass-baritone (+5)

Andrew Moran

Morales

Tenor

Diego Torre

Don José

Conductor

Natalie Murray Beale

Tenor (+4)

Kanen Breen

Remendado

Regent Theatre

Baritone (+4)

Nathan Lay

Contralto (+3)

Angela Hogan

Mezzo-soprano (+3)

Sian Sharp

Carmen

Rihab Chaieb

Tenor (+1)

Young Woo Kim

Soprano

Stacey Alleaume

Tenor (+5)

Benjamin Rasheed

Tenor (+2)

Abraham Bretón

Instrumentalist (+3)

Tahu Matheson

Luke Gabbedy

Soprano (+4)

Danielle de Niese

Conductor (+2)

Clelia Cafiero

Conductor (+5)

Lidiya Yankovskaya

Andrii Kymach

Fiona Jopson

Smuggler, seductress, risk-taker, rebel.
Who is this woman that turns every head?
When Carmen meets Don José, sparks fly. She won’t give up her freedom, and Don José won’t give up his girl. Their smouldering passion sets the stage for tragedy, but first, Bizet gives us an adrenaline-pumping ride through lust, jealousy and spectacle.

This visceral opera is thrilling from the moment the curtain rises and the orchestra races away with the overture. The music has it all: explosions of colour, tender love songs, sensual dances, massive choruses, and always, underneath, the beating pulse of danger.

One of Australia’s great theatre directors, Melbourne Theatre Company’s Anne-Louise Sarks offers a bold new production of the opera classic, leaning into the revolutionary heart of Bizet’s once groundbreaking opera. This is a Carmen for our time, asking urgent questions about opera’s iconic femme fatale, whose dance with destiny ends in disaster.

Australian opera sensation Danielle de Niese and Sian Sharp share the iconic title role, alongside Diego Torre and American tenor Evan LeRoy Johnson as Don José.

Photos