Here Comes ‘Carmen’

A lot of the buzz surrounding Carmen is, naturally, centered around Sarah Saturnino, the young mezzo-soprano who makes her Opera Santa Barbara (OSB) and role debut as the fiery heroine of the title. Deservedly so, as Saturnino, who in April was chosen as one of the winners of Metropolitan Opera’s prestigious nationwide Laffont Competition, has reportedly had her fellow cast members streaming tears during her arias early in the rehearsal period. 

But don’t overlook the stage director Fenlon Lamb who is returning to helm an OSB production for the first time since a spring 2016 double bill of Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi. The Puccini pairing was conducted by Kostis Protopapas, then in his first season as OSB’s Artistic and General Director, which was also the last time the company mounted Carmen. 

Bizet’s masterpiece, among the world’s most performed opera and a true workhorse of the genre, returns to the Granada Theatre to open OSB’s 30th anniversary season, with each of the selections savoring Spanish romantic themes. The company partnered with Opera Southwest on set design, which will be invariably aided by digital projections, many from photographs taken by Lamb in Seville this summer.

“I spent time taking in the textures and the feel of the bull ring, and the tiles in the castles and churches, and the dark alleyways juxtaposed against this beautiful wide-open river,” Lamb said. “I was able to bring back that atmosphere of Seville to use with our fairly traditional staging.”

Of course, the set is merely the frame for the story and the cast delivering the passionate and tragic tale that has kept audiences enthralled for nearly 150 years. Lamb brings experience both as a former singer who performed Carmen’s title role several times and has directed five previous productions, anchoring her take on Bizet’s classic. 

“Everybody has an idea of what Carmen is and how to do it,” Lamb said. “But what it boils down to is sharing the story about the underbelly of society during a certain time period in which verismo was coming into style and focusing on real people’s struggles and the essence of the characters.”

For Lamb, the communication that’s required – especially in such an action-packed piece – comes from the actors embodying their characters somatically as well as through singing and emotion. 

“That physicalization has to be clear to the audience so they know who that person is from the moment they step on stage,” said Lamb, who was an athlete and self-professed “stage animal” in her younger years. “You need to tell the story from a full physical body perspective, which has to be grounded, because it’s easy to get in our heads when we’re singing. Having the actors get out of their own head and into their bodies, the bodies of the characters, is my hope for every performer.”

On stage this weekend, Saturnino as Carmen will be joined by a host of company favorite artists and collaborators of Protopapas. Tenor Nathan Granner and bass-baritone Colin Ramsey make their role debuts as Don José and Escamillo, and soprano Anya Matanovic returns as Micaëla. 

“They’re excellent, the whole cast and crew,” she said. “Everybody has been open to working with me and trying new things to create this big, huge production altogether in collaboration.” 

That includes Lamb’s partner, athletic and business coach William Mitchell, who has been watching as rehearsals roll out, taking in the process from an unusual perspective. 

“He knows my point of view, so he’s been watching what I do and say and how that translates into the process and giving me feedback,” she said. 

Lamb has a lot of experience with Carmen and she realizes that much of the audience will also be very familiar with the opera. But there’s no substitute for how it hits home, and insights still to be gleaned, she said. 

“These are subject matters and lessons that we maybe haven’t fully learned as a culture yet,” she said. “There’s still plenty of violence against women that we haven’t solved. So it’s a little chance at looking at the reality of our life through a lens that is far enough back that we can relate and be touched. More than anything, it’s a cathartic experience.” 

Opera Santa Barbara performs Carmen, sung in French with English supertitles, at 7:30 pm on Friday, September 29, and 2:30 pm on Sunday, October 1, at the Granada Theatre. Call (805) 899-2222 or visit www.granadasb.org.