Amy Bowers, who has been regularly reviewing theatrical productions for us of late, checked out “Carmen” at Wildwood on Friday night.
Wildwood Park’s production of Carmen was engaging and easy to listen to. Director, Ann Chotard, called on the talents of rising star, Adriana Zabala, all the way from New York to play the lead role. She is everything a gypsy girl from Seville, who easily falls in and out of love, could be: exotic, seductive, sly, and an amazing singer and dancer. Carmen is the story of a beautiful, ill-fated gypsy who convinces a corporal to abandon the military and join her as a roaming gypsy, only to cast him aside once she is bored. The production is a mixture of song and dialogue, which makes the story easy to follow for those not as well versed in opera. This is a performance that shouldn’t be missed (and you get that chance to see it again, at Hot Springs Village’s Woodlands Theater on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.).