Knoxville Opera presents two performances of Georges Bizet’s Carmen this weekend, on Friday night and Sunday afternoon. The four-act opera is iconic in all the ways: banger after banger — even if you know nothing about opera you’ll recognize a few of the songs — and messy drama galore.
Directed by Keturah Stickann and conducted by Noam Aviel, this is Knoxville Opera’s sixth edition of Carmen, with previous performances in 1980, 1992, 1998, 2007 and 2015. Bizet’s original premiered in 1875 to blistering reviews and near empty houses. The composer died shortly thereafter, while the opera eventually went on to become one of the most famous and frequently performed in history.
I attended the dress rehearsal on Wednesday evening and everyone, from the vocalists to the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, was top-shelf. I appreciated the classic treatment, with period dress and simple but dynamic sets. As you’ll see throughout this review, for better or worse, I’m perfectly capable of drawing modern parallels myself.
The opera centers on a bad romance between Renée Tatum as Carmen and Ben Gulley as Don José, with Jonathan Patton (Escamillo) and Karen Chia-ling Ho (Micaëla) anchoring love triangles on either side.
Carmen is in French with supertitles in English, but it takes place in and around Seville, Spain. We get tossed straight into the famous entrance aria, “Habernera,” with lyrics translating to how love is a bohemian child who never knew a law. (Sidenote: As a Montessori mom, I am mildly offended).
We soon meet Don José, who is on the verge of marrying a nice girl (Micaëla) and going home to his sweet lil ol’ mama. How responsible. Instead, he goes and gets himself incarcerated to win the affection of Carmen, the ultimate “Jolene.”
“Si tu ne m’aimes pas, je t’aime; si je t’aime, prends garde à toi!“ Carmen sings, in her siren-song mezzo soprano voice that seems to fill the whole of the Tennessee Theatre. “If you do not love me, I love you. If I love you, beware!”
She waved that lil red flag right in front of your face, buddy! But love does what love wants, and it’s a two-way street. Don José wants to settle down; Carmen wants to live that wild and free life. Both in this opera, and in real-life relationships, I think there’s a growing consensus that there’s no “right” or “wrong” way to do love. Maybe you want monogamy and a picket fence; maybe you want to move to Portland and join a polycule. Whatever. It’s all fine. The important thing is just that everybody is on the same page.
Carmen and Don José are, increasingly, NOT on the same page. Things escalate from little lovers’ quarrels to legit abuse. Carmen leaves Don José for Escamillo, the smokin’ hot matador, and Don José continues spiraling in obsession and jealousy.
By the start of Act IV, our leading man is in bad shape. Ripped shirt, clenched fists, swirly-whirly red-rimmed cartoon eyes. It’s not helpful that everyone in this opera seems to be walking around with a kitchen knife in their waistband. Let’s just say the ending is a real gut-punch. Er, stab.
You can learn more about the production here and purchase tickets here. Friday’s performance takes place at 7:30 p.m. at the Tennessee Theatre, while Sunday’s is at 2:30 p.m. in the same venue. Tickets start at $35.
Limited tickets ($45) are also still available for the Carmen Brunch on Sunday, Oct. 26, at 11:30 a.m. at KoPita Authentic Mediterranean (507 S Gay St.).
Carmen kicks off Knoxville Opera’s “Masters of Mischief” season, which also includes …
- Couture Opera: The Art of Deception (Nov. 7, 2025)
- Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Feb. 20 & 22, 2026)
- Rossini Festival (April 18 & 19, 2026)
- Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi (May 8 & 10, 2026)
Discover more from Inside of Knoxville
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.