Alison Bolshoi

Boheme Opera NJ stages Georges Bizet’s Carmen on March 15 at 8 p.m. and March 17 at 3 p.m. at Kendall Hall Performance Theater on the campus of The College of New Jersey, 2000 Pennington Road in Ewing.

Bizet’s tale of lust and vengeance is consistently in the top five operas performed around the world. Boheme Opera’s version has virtual sets by J. Matthew Root, and the Boheme Opera NJ Orchestra and Chorus under the baton of conductor and artistic director Joseph Pucciatti. Carmen also features members of the Alborada Spanish Dance Theatre and the Princeton Boychoir and Girlchoir.

Stage Director Stefanos Koroneos sets Carmen in the explosive Spain of the 1940s, when Franco ruled with an iron fist and war raged around the globe. Award-winning contralto Alison Bolshoi has previously appeared with Boheme in Aida and Hansel and Gretel. Tenor Gregory Turay, making his company and role debuts, has starred in Nabucco with West Bay Opera, and baritone Jason Duika makes his company and role debuts as the flamboyant toreador, Escamillo.

Carmen is sung in French with English supertitles. Each performance will be preceded, one hour before curtain, with a talk by Boheme Board President Jerrold Kalstein.

Visit bohemeopera.org/carmen or call (609) 581-9551 for tickets and information.