Carmen. My brother Steve was just in a production of Carmen at the Syracuse Opera. He was the head smuggler, Dancairo, which is pretty important in terms of the story. Unfortunately, it has no aria, so its not as well-known a part as the Toreador or the lead. As always, he was really excellent in his part, and the show as a whole was quite good, with two exceptions. The projected "opera titles," the translation, were pretty bad, with important lines left out, poorly timed, and poorly coordinated. The sets were pretty abstract, and I didn't think they added that much, especially in the smuggler's camp which had strange bits that no-one could figure out what they were. The sets were rented and came with no explanation or instructions (I found this out from Steve), so they did the best they could. The singing and the acting was good, especially for acts 2, 3, and 4 (act one the singing was good but the acting seemed a little stiff), so it was worth heading up to see.

My biggest thought on the show in general was that it could have had a different title, though not as catchy; "Don Jose is a raving madman."