Opera Idaho Returns to the Morrison Center With CARMEN Tonight

Opera Idaho presents Carmen by Georges Bizet tonight, February 28, 2014 at 7:30pm and Sunday, March 2, 2014 at 2:30pm at The Morrison Center.

"Opera Idaho is thrilled to return to The Morrison Center after a five-year absence," said Mark Junkert, General Director of Opera Idaho. "We thank The Morrison Center Endowment Foundation for funding that makes it possible. Carmen is the perfect opera for our return, requiring a large stage for the large choruses, adult and children, that are an integral part of the opera, and the opera's four scene locations are better facilitated by the technical capabilities of the theater and its wonderful technical staff. We hope to fill every single seat in the relatively new and more intimate Orchestra-only Configuration!"

"We consider Opera Idaho to be one of our resident performing arts companies," said James Patrick, Executive Director of the Velma V. Morrison Center for the Performing Arts. "It is wonderful to provide opera as a part of our annual season offerings. I encourage the community to support this production of Carmen."

About Carmen: Georges Bizet's Carmen tells the story of the downfall of Don José, a naive soldier who is seduced by the wiles of the fiery gypsy Carmen. José abandons his childhood sweetheart and deserts from his military duties, yet loses Carmen's love to the glamorous toreador Escamillo after which José kills her in a jealous rage. The depictions of proletarian life, immorality and lawlessness, and the tragic outcome in which the main character dies on stage, broke new ground in French opera and were highly controversial. Although not immediately popular at the box office, the opera soon became and continues to be one of the most frequently performed operas; the "Toreador's Song" is among the best known of all operatic arias.

Carmen is the most-often produced opera in Opera Idaho's 40-year history, with Puccini's La bohème - this will be the sixth production, the most recent being one in 2005 and starring Michelle Berger in the title role. The 1984 production was an inaugural month production at The Morrison Center at Boise State University. The earliest was a 1975 production which was the fledgling Boise Civic Opera's first main stage production of an opera with orchestra. This production returns Opera Idaho to The Morrison Center for the first time since 2008.

Tickets start at $23.50 (without fees).

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