LOCAL STUDENTS TO PERFORM IN CARMEN
Drama students from the North East will perform alongside professional opera singers in the Opera and Ballet International production of Carmen at Darlington Civic Theatre.
Seville comes to Darlington with the hottest ticket in town.
The award-winning opera producer Ellen Kent returns to Darlington Civic Theatre this month with an epic production of Bizet’s Carmen featuring a host of international soloists, highly praised chorus, the support of a full orchestra and ten local music and drama students.
Kent’s operas are renowned for their high production values, stunning set design which truly captures the architectural backdrop of each of the beautiful cityscapes, lavish costumes and incredible pyrotechnic displays and lighting effects which all combine to deliver an exceptional visual and musical masterpiece for audiences.
This dazzling production features Bizet’s unforgettable melodies including The Toreodor’s Song. A stunning new set reflects the architecture of Seville and its main square with Roman and Moorish influences.
The production at Darlington Civic Theatre will also feature ten drama students from Stagecoach Darlington and Yarm. Trudy Hindmarsh, Principal at Stagecoach, said “Rehearsals are well underway and the ten students who got through the two rounds of auditions are feeling very proud of themselves. They are rising to the challenge of singing in French and are already looking forward to the costumes that they will wear.”
Carmen is one of the most passionate operas ever written. A group of gypsy smugglers are frustrated in their attempts to bring their contraband into the city by Don Jose, an incorruptible officer in the Civil Guard. In order to help her kinsmen, the sultry Carmen seduces Don Jose, persuading him to abandon his post and look the other way. When his infatuation with Carmen leads him to kill a fellow guardsman in order to prevent her arrest, Don Jose becomes a wanted fugitive. The capricious, fickle Carmen resents his possessiveness and leaves him for a famous toreador in Seville. Obsessed and frustrated, a distraught Don Jose follows her to the bullring with tragic consequences.
Carmen is at Darlington Civic Theatre on Monday 21 March at 7.30pm. Sung in French with English surtitles.
Tickets* are £29 to £36, discounts are available.
To book contact the Box Office on 01325 486 555 or visit www.darlingtoncivic.co.uk
*All prices include a £1 restoration levy