Carmen Jones
Carmen Jones is a 1943 Broadway musical with music by Georges Bizet (orchestrated for Broadway by Robert Russell Bennett) and lyrics and book by Oscar Hammerstein II which was performed at The Broadway Theatre. Conceptually, it is Bizet's opera Carmen updated to a World War II-era, African-American setting. Bizet's opera was, in turn, based on the 1846 novella by Prosper Mérimée. The Broadway musical was produced by Billy Rose, using an all-black cast, and directed by Hassard Short. Robert Shaw prepared the choral portions of the show.
| Carmen Jones | |
|---|---|
1944 Original Cast Recording | |
| Music | Georges Bizet |
| Lyrics | Oscar Hammerstein II |
| Book | Oscar Hammerstein II |
| Basis | Carmen by Georges Bizet Henri Meilhac Ludovic Halévy Carmen by Prosper Mérimée |
| Productions | 1943 Broadway 1945 Broadway 1946 Broadway 1949 Greek Theatre 1954 Film version 1991 Old Vic 2007 Royal Festival Hall 2018 Off-Broadway |
| Awards | Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical |
The original Broadway production starred Muriel Smith (alternating with Muriel Rahn) in the title role. The original Broadway cast members were nearly all new to the stage; Kennedy and Muir each wrote that on the first day of rehearsal only one member had ever been on a stage before this musical.
The 1954 film was adapted by Hammerstein and Harry Kleiner. It was directed by Otto Preminger and starred Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte.
The musical has been revived in London, running for a season in 1991 at Old Vic and most recently in Royal Festival Hall in the Southbank Centre in 2007.
In 2018, it was revived off-Broadway at the Classic Stage Company under the direction of John Doyle and Anika Noni Rose in the title role.