Behind the scenes of Florida Grand Opera’s “Carmen,” there are intriguing legacies: This will be the 24th production for mezzo soprano Ginger Costa-Jackson who will be singing the role of “Carmen”; Julia Lemigova, one of the stars of the reality television series “The Real Housewives of Miami,” is in the production in a role that has always been miniscule but now has more stage time; and director Maria Todaro comes from a long line of “Carmen” history – her mother, a celebrated Brazilian mezzo-soprano, has sung the role of Carmen 250 times.
Todaro has reimagined the production, taking it out of George Bizet’s early 19th century Spain and placing it in the midst of the Spanish Civil War in 1937.
Todaro, who has been with Florida Grand Opera (FGO) since October 2023, first as its interim general director and general director and CEO since 2024, conceived and directs FGO’s “Carmen,” opening Saturday, April 12, at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. It will also be performed in Fort Lauderdale at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday, April 24 and Friday, April 25.
“This is for me, an enormous joy,” says Todaro, who has sung the role as a mezzo soprano in her own professional career, “because I’ll be working with exquisite artists that I’ve chosen and without changing a word, without changing the music, we are telling a very powerful story. [It is] the same story, but with layers that are deeper and empowering for women.”
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For the French-born Todaro, “Carmen” is not just an opera, but a deeply personal, artistic and familial touchstone.
“When I was an opera singer, I performed many Carmens,” says Todaro. “And my mother was the youngest singer in the history of “Carmen.” She is the daughter of opera singers José Todaro, a Spanish/Italian operatic tenor, who frequently played the role of Don José, and Brazilian mezzo soprano Maria-Helena de Olivera who, at 21 was the youngest singer to debut in the role, performing at La Monnaie in Brussels. She went on to perform the Spanish gypsy 250 times.
In FGO’s production of “Carmen,” Todaro cast Ginger Costa-Jackson in a role that has become her signature, performing as Carmen in productions with major companies in Seattle, San Diego, San Francisco, Nashville, Detroit, Vancouver and Tokyo. In a first, her soprano sisters, Marina Costa-Jackson and Miriam Costa-Jackson, will alternate performances as Micaëla, the first time all three have performed in a production together, albeit only sharing a brief scene. “There’s only one moment that In Act 3 where Micaëla and my character interact on stage. She’s disguised as a boy and I am actually the one that removes her hat because she is in disguise and the minute I take off her hat, I see all of her hair falling down and I say, ‘It’s a woman.’ “
Ginger Costa-Jackson recalls that during rehearsals the sisters would all “break down laughing because we have this face off and we would just crack up when I would reveal Micaëla’s identity.” She says they have been working to remain serious when the curtain goes up. While Ginger Costa-Jackson has worked with Todaro in other productions, this will be the three sisters debut with FGO.
“And you’ve heard that we have a Miami housewife with us,” says Costa-Jackson. Lemigova, the wife of tennis star Martina Navratilova, and the first LGBTQ+ housewife to be featured in Bravo’s reality television show, has been studying voice with Florida Grand Opera for the past year, and is making her opera debut in a non-singing role as Manuelita, a factory work and Carmen’s rival.
“We have some cat fighting scenes together and it’s so fun,” says Costa-Jackson.
Todaro says it is a very physical role she’s given Lemigova.
“Usually, the character is seen for about ten seconds and, in some productions you don’t even see her, she is just mentioned. In my version, you’ll see her in all four acts,” says Todaro, who worked with Lemigova on stage combat, a disfiguration sequence, and “intense interactions” with the cast.
Todaro says deliberately expanding the character’s presence in the opera emphasizes the role of women in the director’s Spanish Civil War setting.
“The Spanish Civil War offers a context that Carmen is a freedom fighter,” says Todaro.
She references the book “Carmen” by Prosper Mérimée, the original novella from 1845 that inspired the classic opera by Bizet. “Before Carmen dies, she says ‘I was born free and I will die free.’ So this statement from Mérimée is really the epitome of who Carmen is,” she says. “Placing it in the Spanish Civil War allowed me to give another sense to the word freedom that is always so emphasized. It’s not just her sexual freedom. She says, ‘I have had many lovers. And one day they are here and one day they are gone.’ Now, her mission is the fight for freedom during a war.”
“Carmen,” Bizet’s opera of a free-spirited Gypsy woman, has become one of the most frequently performed operas. Some of the French opera’s arias have become part of pop culture, such as the recognizable “Habanera,” with its familiar pizzicato strings and orchestra used as a soundtrack for television and movie comedic moments — such as the Swedish Chef and Beaker singing together on “The Muppets,” in a Doritos commercial during the 2008 Super Bowl, and to dramatize Mr. Carl Fredricksen’s long descend down the stairs to start his day in Disney Pixar’s film “Up.”
“The traditionalist will look at it with an eye of ‘ooh, I’m surprised,’’’ says Todaro about her “Carmen.”
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“There are things in this production like the treatment of ‘Habanera,’ for instance and the first time Carmen enters the stage. Usually, you see her as a femme fatale, but I’ve done something very different. But I don’t want to give away the secrets.”
She does divulge that she inserted writer Ernest Hemingway into her version – the novelist was in Spain during the Civil War as a correspondent.
Since her opera is set in the midst of Francisco Franco’s dictatorship she had to consult with her prop master about elements on the set that would be relevant to 1937. Should a poster say “Libertad” like she had used in a previous production she directed in 2018 or would she rather “Unidad” in 2025?
“In my other shows I always had ‘libertad,” like a cry for freedom. In today’s context, we debated about the purpose of art and the responsibility that we have. Whatever is happening in the world does not belong to me, the interpretation is for the audience. This company is a place of connection, of unity, a place where we want to create dialogue and where it should be a safe place for everyone to come and to discuss.”
Todaro says as the executive director, CEO of FGO and the director of its current production,” she sees her job as this: “My role is not to influence. My role is to present.”
IF YOU GO
What: Florida Grand Opera’s Carmen (Sung in French with English and Spanish projected translations)
When: 7 p.m., Saturday, April 12, 3 p.m., Sunday, April 13 and 8 p.m., Tuesday, April 15; also in Fort Lauderdale, 7:30 p.m., Thursday, April 24 and Saturday, April 26.
Where: Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., and Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW 5th Ave., Fort Lauderdale.
Cost: Miami: $22- $258; Broward: $25 – $215
Information: 800-741-1010 or fgo.org
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