George BizeTs

Inspired by GEORGES BIZET‘S Carmenadapted from the short story of PROSPER MÉRIMÉE

Based on the idea and the lyrics ofOSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II (Carmen Jones)

Conception and mise-en-scène: Christopher Renshaw

Book: Norge Espinosa Mendoza, Stephen Clark (†) and Christopher Renshaw

Lyrics: Norge Espinosa Mendoza

Orchestration and Arrangements: Alex Lacamoire

Co-Arrangements: Edgar Vero

Musical Supervision: Kurt Crowley

Musical Direction: Manny Schvartzman

Set and Costume Design: Tom Piper

Choreography: Roclan Gonzalez Chavez

Light Design: Fabrice Kebour

Co-Director: Matthew Cole

Production Coordinator Cuba: Jon Lee

Characters:

Carmen • José • La Señora • Marilù • El Niño • Moreno • Paquita

Cuqui • Rico • Tato • Kid Cowboy

Ensemble:

Additional supporting roles as well as Dance Company and Choir

Mambo Big Band

Cuban cast with 12 multi-instrumentalists

A Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris and BB Promotion Co-Production

MEDIA

Photos

VideoTrailer CARMEN LA CUBANA (3,01 min, width 500, height 281):

Photo and video material of Carmen La Cubana is available for download on

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On 8th April 2016 the curtain at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris rose on the world premiere of the first Cuban musical CARMEN LA CUBANA. As soon as the first few notes sounded, the magic of the Caribbean island had cast its spell on the audience; The entire auditorium broke into standing ovations to celebrate the visually stunning production and its fantastic, mainly Cuban, ensemble. The critics, too, were unanimous in their enthusiasm. “A version of Carmen muy caliente – it electrifies the audience. [...] a spellbinding ensemble that moves the room to standing ovations”, gushed Le Figaro.

Taking George Bizet’s Carmen and Oscar Hammerstein II’s musical adaptation Carmen Jones as their points of departure, the internationally renowned musical theatre director Christopher Renshaw and Grammy- and Tony-Award-winning arranger and orchestrator Alex Lacamoire present a totally new and contemporary vision of the legendary figure of Carmen. In CARMEN LA CUBANA, the gripping drama with its distinctive characters is translated from a tragic love story into a political thriller; An opulent tableau shows Cuba in the late 1950s awakening to the dawn of the revolution. The fast-paced scene changes of CARMEN LA CUBANA take us from the gates of a cigar factory in the Caribbean island’s rural South-East to the bustling life of Santiago and Havana with their legendary bars and music clubs.

A musical theatre event of the highest artistic quality, CARMEN LA CUBANA convinces on

every level; Stephen Clark and Norge Espinosa Mendoza’s precise dialogues are sharpened by great wit and mingle with ensemble scenes that brim with energy. The Big Band with its additional classical and Latin American instruments plays intoxicating Afro-Cuban rhythms that lend a whole new, fascinating flair to the familiar tunes by Bizet. Another enthralling element is the pulsating choreography by Roclan Gonzalez Chavez, which melds the unique spectrum of Cuban dance ingenuity – including Rumba, Cha-Cha-Cha and Mambo – with a contemporary movement vocabulary. With its pounding, vibrant energy, it transports the spirit of Cuba directly into the auditorium.

Christopher Renshaw had long contemplated the possibility of translating the story into a Latin-American setting, using the plot line of Carmen Jones. The idea of setting the plot on the Caribbean island and colouring Bizet’s Hispanic-accented score with related Latin sounds and rhythms emerged in conversation with Jon Lee, producer and an expert on Cuba. Cuba is not only the place of origin for songs and dances such as the Habanera; In terms of plot, too, Cuba practically suggests itself as the perfect framework for Carmen’s story; Her fight for independence and freedom is mirrored in the spirit of the Cuban revolution, adding a political dimension to the material. More than anything, the wilful and free-thinking figure of Carmen exemplifies the irrepressible zest for life that is so characteristic of the people of Cuba.“

World premiere of the first Cuban musical

Viva LA rEVOLUTIóN – VivA CARMEN LA Cubana!

„A version of Carmen muy caliente – it electrifies the audience. [...] a spellbinding ensemble that moves the room to standing ovations.“

Le Figaro

„Funny and sexy […] a spectacular adaptation.“Le Parisien

Guerillas behind the scenes: Creative Team

„By shifting of the action to Havana, Christopher Renshaw makes Bizet’s opera sizzle. And it works. The Cuban rhythms that permeate the famous musical motifs send shivers down the audience’s back, leaving the whole theatre totally overwhelmed and thrilled.“

France inter

Christopher Renshaw is among the most successful and versatile directors of musical theatre; equally at home in great opera houses as he is in the West End and on Broadway. Numerous productions at the Royal Opera House in London and the Sydney Opera House, among others, sit alongside his productions of We Will Rock You – resident in the West End for more than 12 years – and The King and I on Broadway, awarded a Tony Award and counted among his greatest successes. Together with a creative team made up of renowned artists, some of them hailing from Cuba, he has created a unique reinterpretation of Carmen as a musical.

The libretto was developed in close collaboration with the British dramatist and dramaturg Stephen Clark and the Cuban poet, theatre critic, and songwriter Norge Espinosa Mendoza. Meanwhile Alex Lacamoire was tasked with reorchestrating Bizet’s score in a new arrangement. Recipient of both a Grammy and a 2016 Tony Award for his involvement in the current Broadway hit, Hamilton, he draws on his Cuban heritage to apply his exceptional talent as an arranger to CARMEN LA CUBANA. He is supported by the distinguished Havana-based composer and pianist, Edgar Vero, and the American musical director, Kurt Crowley, as supervisor.

For the choreography, the Cuban dancer and choreographer Roclan Gonzalez Chavez was brought on board. He knows better than anyone how to fuse Cuban folkloric dances with the modern vocabulary of contemporary dance. As well as working extensively for film and TV and with prominent Cuban artists and companies including Omara Portuondo, Compay Segundo, and the world famous Tropicana revue, Chavez has contributed to many Cuban inspired shows, among them the internationally celebrated dance production Ballet Revolución.

The team is completed by the additions of Britain’s Tom Piper as stage and costume designer and the French lighting designer Fabrice Kebour.

After a development phase of more than three years, with extended residences, workshops and auditions in Cuba and New York, CARMEN LA CUBANA – a co-production of the Théâtre du Châtelet under the artistic directorship of Jean-Luc Choplin and BB Promotion under CEO Ralf Kokemüller – celebrated its premiere in Paris in April 2016 and completed a successful run of performances there.

„A resounding success. Clever direction, terrific lighting design, stirring dance routines and exuberant singing make Carmen an utterly electrifying evening“

Théâtral magazine

The Art of Rebellion

From Bizet’s Carmen, via Carmen Jones, to Carmen La Cubana

With his masterpiece and one of the world’s most popular operas, Georges Bizet rebelled musically and morally against the prevailing musical theatre tradition; likewise, the American lyricist and librettist, Oscar Hammerstein II, revolutionised Broadway with his jazz-inspired musical adaptation of Carmen Jones in 1943.

The setting here is a black community in North Carolina during the Second World War and it shows the spirited Carmen as a seamstress in a military base’s parachute factory. Joe, a handsome young GI, is ordered to take Carmen to the town’s prison as a result of her attack on one of the female workers. However, on the way there, she seduces Joe and flees. Joe then has to serve the sentence himself. Obsessed with a blind passion for Carmen, he dissolves his engagement after his release, and deserts the army to seek his Carmen in Chicago. However, in the interim, Carmen has started a liaison with a flamboyant boxing champion. Joe falls into a blind, jealous rage. The boxer now represents the torero and the ring replaces the deadly arena...

The international award-winning film adaptation of Carmen Jones, dating from 1954 and featuring Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte in the main roles, was created by the producer, Otto Preminger. Shot in one of the first CinemaScope

formats, the film became massively successful on a global scale and, finally, a national cultural treasure in the United States.

The book and score of CARMEN LA CUBANA capture the scenic and musical basic structures, which had been created in Carmen Jones, and develop them to create an original stage musical. After more than three years of development a musical event has been created at the most artistically sophisticated level, a musical event which combines a touching love story with the enthralling subject of a political thriller.

The Parisian Théâtre du Châtelet is one of the premier addresses in Europe with its multi-faceted programme of first-class productions of international entertainment. Convinced of CARMEN LA CUBANA’s high-quality standards and equally great potential, the Théâtre du Châtelet, still under the general direction of Jean-Luc Choplin in 2016, and one of the market-leading companies in the field of first-class live entertainment, the internationally-operating BB Promotion with CEO Ralf Kokemüller at the helm, came together as official co-producers, to realise this first musical from Cuba in its world premiere. Viva CARMEN LA CUBANA!

„Pure entertainment. A gift from a fantastic ensemble.“Libération

PRODUCERSBB Group (Producer)

BB Promotion, the core of today’s BB Group, was founded in 1987 by Michael Brenner. Even after Brenner’s tragic passing the BB Group, led by a long-term management team and headed by CEO Ralf Kokemüller, has remained true to its foundations and has continued to make its mark on today‘s international live entertainment business. Today BB Group is one of the market leaders in the development, production, management and marketing of high-end live entertainment in Europe as well as in the organisation of concerts and events in the west and the southwest of Germany. In 2015 the Ambassador Theatre Group Ltd, world’s number one live-theatre company, became majority shareholder of BB Group, enabling the company to operate in one of the biggest international network of theatres. BB Group’s portfolio encompasses an impressive range of ballet and dance theatre, music and stage shows as well as musicals, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, STOMP or Disney’s The Lion King. Additionally, the BB Group has long been a successful producer of distinguished productions and co-productions as West Side Story, WE WILL ROCK YOU, CATS or BODYGUARD – DAS MUSICAL.

Sundance Productions, Inc., New York (U. S. Tour Producer)

Located in the heart of Times Square, Sundance Productions is a global entertainment and production firm specializing in live stage pro-ductions. With services ranging from casting, contracting, artist liaison and support to pro-fessional management of administrative, creative and technical theatrical issues, the agency coordinates all logistic issues concerning theatrical performances. Under the leadership of David Coffman as Managing Director, the company takes particular pride in working with the most creative and successful production teams in theater today. Current premium productions in association with

the internationally operating BB Group include: Queen Esther Marrow’s The Harlem Gospel Singers Show, Ballet Revolución and the international touring production of West Side Story. Previous productions and associations include Tanguera, Grease, Saturday Night Fever, Latin Heat, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Martha GrahamDance Company, World Tenors Unleashed!, and the co-production of the original Broadway show Swing!.

Théâtre du Châtelet (Co-producer of the original production)

The Théâtre du Châtelet in the heart of Paris, situated between Notre Dame and the Louvre, is the premier address on the Seine for excellent theatre art. The Châtelet’s portfolio includes performances in dance, music and musicals and new, lavishly staged productions which are visited by a broadly mixed public, some of whom would usually avoid the theatre.As a grant-funded theatre, the Châtelet sees itself as having an obligation to present first-class performances from all the continents of the world.

Since 1929, when the theatre presented the first European performance of Show Boat, the programme has focused in part on supporting the American musical repertoire. With the mission of continuing to honour this heritage, yet equally with the vision of breaking open traditional forms, from 2006 to 2017 Jean Luc Choplin, as General Director, held the fortunes of the Théâtre du Châtelet in his hands. The theatre produced musical classics with contemporary staging which toured internationally to great success, including Candide in England, Japan and Italy or Sweeney Todd in San Francisco and Houston. After its premiere at the Châtelet, An American in Paris caused a furore on Broadway: nominated for 12 Tony Awards, including in the category „Best Musical“, the staging took four of the sought-after trophies.

„The Cuban artists interpret the very essence of the Cuban style with devilish energy and hot sensuality … a raucous, proud, refreshing and refined pleasure.“

Télérama

VIVIR, AMAR, BAILAR – TO LIVE, TO LOVE, TO DANCE!

SCENARIO and SET LISTACT IPrologue La Señora, three boys

Prelude and Destiny-Theme Ensemble

Working in the Heat Ensemble

Marcha adelante, marcha atrás Three boys

She Knows So Much More Than You La Señora, three boys

Las Tabaqueras Women workers of the cigar factory

Entrance Carmen Carmen, Ensemble

Habanera Carmen, Ensemble

Witchcraft Carmen, José, Ensemble

You Talk Like My Mama José, Marilù

Fight of the Girls Women workers of the cigar factory

Tra-la-la Carmen, Moreno

Carmen Jones is Going to Jail Women workers of the cigar factory

There is a Bar on the Corner Carmen, José

Habanera (Reprise) Marilù, three boys

Beat Out That Rhythm on a Drum La Señora, Paquita, Cuqui, Ensemble

Stand Up and Fight (“Toreador Song”) El Niño, Paquita, Cuqui, Rico, Tato, Ensemble

Whizzing Away Along the Track Carmen, Paquita, Cuqui, Rico, Tato

Carmen’s Dance Carmen, José

The Flower Song José

I Don’t Believe Your Love Carmen, José

Finale Act I

El Niño, Paquita, Cuqui, Rico, Tato, Ensemble

ACT IIRevolution La Señora, Ensemble

El Gato Negro La Señora

El Mambo de Carmen Carmen, Ensemble

The Card Song Carmen, La Señora, Paquita, Cuqui

Mi José Marilù

Your Mama is Lonely Carmen, José, El Niño, Marilù

Stand Up and Fight (Reprise) El Niño, Carmen

Vengan Todos La Señora, Rico, Tato, Ensemble

If You Love Me, Carmen Carmen, El Niño

Finale Act II Carmen, José, Ensemble

CARMEN LA CUBANA spirits the audience directly into the heart of Havana; up on the stage the stately hall of a down-at-heel colonial building is revealed, the erstwhile enormous splendour of which is still immediately obvious. In the cigar fog from a glowing Cohiba we see the contours of a Santería priestess, La Señora – the lady of many forms. As a symbol of female power in the natural universe, she embodies in a circle dance performed by three children the eternal dance of life, love, death. The priestess spins the thread from the past through the present and forward into an as yet unknown tomorrow. There is nothing that she hasn‘t seen, there is nothing to be done that she hasn‘t already done; from her memory a small village near the town of Santiago in eastern Cuba awakens to new life accompanied by the driving, rhythmic choral singing of the Tumbadora. It is a day in the year 1958 on the eve of the Cuban revolution:

In front of the gates of a cigar factory, a patrol of soldiers from one of the hated battalions of the ruler Batista broods in the glare of the searing midday heat. There is danger in the air and minute by minute it seems to fall more closely across the remote military base. In the forests of a nearby mountain range the advancing rebels are secure in their hideouts. The teasing and taunting is an attempt by the soldiers to cover their sense that the advance of the guerillas could soon spell

an end to their own lives. Suddenly the young Marilù appears. When she asks the men about a lieutenant by the name of José, who she says is her fiancé, the young ingénue immediately becomes the target of lewd and salacious comments. As if out of nowhere la Señora appears and puts an end to their taunting. Whilst she puts a curse on the soldiers and takes Marilù away from the square, Sergeant Moreno enters accompanied by José.

The factory bell rings and the gates of the cigar factory open. From the sweltering interior the lightly clad tabaqueras swarm out onto the balconies of the building. Shamelessly the soldiers search out the most seductive of them all, „Carmencita“ – and unintentionally become the target of ridicule by the women above. In the increasingly heated atmosphere, the prelude builds towards the first act and rough men‘s voices are raised to call for the figure of their desire. With her head held high and a red rose in her black hair, the stunning Carmen appears to the swaying rhythm of the Habanera – the knife of love is drawn and aimed straight at José‘s heart.

The story quickly gathers pace and, in the chaos of a battle for freedom victoriously fought, it ignites in a last dance on the sword‘s edge right across the Caribbean island of Cuba with Carmen at its head.

ThE CALM BEfORE ThE STORM

„Eye of the gypsy, eye of the wolf.“ Carmencita, “a strange and wild beauty”, who takes whatever she desires, is like a “cat stalking a sparrow”, as she is described in Prosper Mérimée‘s inspiration for Bizet‘s work. With his novella Carmen, written in 1845, French writer Mérimée gave a worldly shape to the romanticised figures of fairytale, myth and legend; the first „femme fatale“ of obviously foreign origins and from the simplest of backgrounds. Governed by a demanding, unrestrained and free-spirited nature, she is determined to show no vulnerability which makes her seem somewhat aloof. As the archetype for countless fictional figures in all genres of cultural history, she is also the inspiration for an increasingly independent femininity in the second half of the 20th century. Only, the original remains unsurpassed. Carmen does not degenerate into the clichés of arbitrary lust and desire. Carmen shatters expectations.

No „tralala“ in the history of musical theatre defies the commander‘s smug questioning more provocatively, lasciviously and scornfully than Carmen‘s famous mocking song. She responds that she will never reveal anything of the secret entrusted to her, whatever he might do to her („Mon secret, je le garde, et je le garde bien“), hinting at her inherited powers of second sight as if she carried, filled with all the evils of this world, Pandora‘s box within her body. In CARMEN LA CUBANA this power, this perception of the supernatural, is reflected allegorically in the figure of La Señora created by the team of authors. This character is woven within various roles into fateful

turning points in the story. Coming from the spirit of Santería, as the Cuban popular religion is known – a melding of an occult belief system and the Catholic tradition of saint worship – La Señora stands for all of the mysticism and phantasm surrounding the fabulous Carmen.

The plucky cigar girl from a mountain village somewhere in the east of Cuba takes on the realities with which she is faced with an unashamed lust for life. „I will laugh, drink, will sing, dance and will live life to the full until my dying day. So long as I still have wings to fly, I will always look up to the sky. I will always remain Carmen.“ Director Christopher Renshaw makes this radical credo the pivotal turning point in his staging of CARMEN LA CUBANA. The brutal openness with which Carmen defends the independence which she so determinedly strives for is both disturbing and fascinating. This projection, a pure fantasy in the eyes of her beholders, is at no point Carmen‘s true nature.

Carmen does not give in to illusions, does not drown the romance in romanticism. In the end José lacks respect and the ability to let go and let her go her own way. „Carmen precisely embodies what Cubans would like to be today – a free and responsible people,“ says the Cuban co-librettist of CARMEN LA CUBANA, Norge Espinosa Mendoza.

Carmen will never give up her fight and will be revived again and again even in the 21st-century. The one to be mourned in the end is José.

TRA LA LA LA LA LA……In a cage you can keep me, Tra la la… But this Carmen will always be the same.

Tra la la…You know me and will fear me, Tra la la… Because I know how you’ll end up.

(Carmen in CARMEN LA CUBANA, Act I)

CREATIVE TEAM

Christopher Renshaw (Design, script and staging)

Born in Reading, Great Britain, in 1952, he attended Magdalen College in Oxford. After graduating he first worked as a director at the Glyndebourne Opera Festival and the Royal Opera House in London.

Productions and awards (selected):Staging in the genres of opera and operetta, including Norma with Joan Sutherland and Aida at the Sydney Opera House, Eugen Onegin at the Aldeburgh Festival with Mstislaw Rostropovich conducting, A Midsummer Night‘s Dream at the Royal Opera House, the Mikado, HMS Pinafore, The Gondoliers by Gilbert and Sullivan at London‘s Sadler‘s Wells and a TV adaptation of Ruddigore. In the world of musicals he‘s been responsible for directing The King and I (Australia, New York‘s Broadway, London‘s West End), How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying, South Pacific and Hello Dolly as well as for the original London productions of Café Puccini at Wyndham‘s Theatre, We Will Rock You at the Dominion Theatre, Taboo (with Boy George), Zorro (also in Amsterdam, Moscow, Tokyo, Paris, Atlanta and on Broadway) and Pure Imagination with music by Leslie Bricusse at the St James Theatre in 2015. In 1996 he won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Direction for The King and I and a Tony Award in the Revival category and another Tony in 2015 for the new staging of The King and I, again in the Best Revival category. The production in Sydney, Australia, won the Helpmann Award 2014 for Best Musical.

Norge Espinosa Mendoza (Script and lyrics)

The native Cuban was born in Santa Clara in 1971 and graduated from the Escuela Nacional de Teatro, a faculty of the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana. As editor in chief of the magazines Entretelones and Extramuros the sought-after theatre critic and essayist came to the fore primarily as an author, poet and dramatist.

Productions and awards (selected):In collaboration with some of the most significant theatres in Cuba, including the Teatro E Publico, the Teatro de las Estaciones and the Teatro Palpito, he developed and wrote pieces such as La virgencita de bronce, Romanza del Lirio, Sara’s, Icaros and many more. Most recently, US productions of two of his works – Sueño and La Gloria – have thrilled New York theatre audiences. His numerous awards include the Premio Nacional de Poesía El Caimán Barbudo for Las breves tribulaciones (1993), the Premio de la Crítica Literaria with co-author Rubén Darío Salazar for Mito, verdad y retablo: El guiñol des los hermanos Camejo y Pepe Carril (2012) and the Orden por la Cultura, presented in the name of the Republic of Cuba (2014).

„The fascination with Carmen: I think a lot of people feel drawn to a person who exudes a certain amount of danger. Looking at the character of José, speaking for myself I can absolutely identify with that. At the same time, Carmen is a woman who doesn‘t shy away from the idea of escaping once and for all her lot in life, her poor existence in the village, even in the face of all of society‘s expectations.“

Christopher Renshaw

Stephen Clark (†)(Script)

The native Brit who lives in Brighton studied acting and musical theatre at Oxford University and got to know the world of musical theatre when he attended Stephen Sondheim‘s masterclass in 1991. Works by this experienced playwright, librettist and songwriter have been on the programmes of theatres around the world for decades.Productions and awards (selected):For the theatre he wrote the plays Stripped (Jefferson Award 2003 in Chicago), Takeaway (originally performed at the Lyric Hammersmith, London and on tour throughout Britain) and Making Waves (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough). His first musical Eyam was performed at the theatre at the Old Fire Station in Oxford and at the The Bridewell in London. Clark subjected the initially unsuccessful West End production of Martin Guerre to a complete reworking including rewriting the lyrics to the songs and in 1997 won the Olivier Award for Best Musical, touring throughout Great Britain and the USA. He wrote the script and lyrics for Zorro (Garrick Theatre, London, Folies-Bergère in Paris and on tour worldwide) as well as for Love Story (Chichester Festival Theatre and London‘s West End, amongst others). His other works include Forbidden City, The Far Pavilions, the adaptation of the libretto to La Traviata for the English National Opera and an adaptation for a musical version of the epic Mahabharata at Sadler‘s Wells.

Alex Lacamoire (Orchestration and arrangement)

Born with Cuban roots in Los Angeles in 1975, after some time at the New World School of the Arts, he graduated top of his class in the subjects of jazz, arrangement and film music from the Berklee College of Music. Since then he has worked as a composer, musical director and supervisor as well as conductor and music copyist. Having won many awards, on Broadway he is amongst the most sought-after orchestrators and arrangers in the theatre business.

Productions and awards (selected):Having worked in a range of positions on musical productions such as Bat Boy: The Musical, Godspell, Wicked and High Fidelty he took on the orchestration of In the Heights alongside Bill Sherman (Tony Award 2008 for Best Orchestration, Grammy Award 2009 for Best Musical Theatre Album). After working on 9 to 5 (nominations for a Drama Desk Award and a Grammy Award), Bring It on: The Musical and the revival of Annie, he was commissioned to work on Hamilton as musical director and conductor as well as being responsible for the orchestration and co-arrangement of the composition. The enormous success of this piece, which transferred from off-Broadway to the Richard Rodgers Theatre in Broadway‘s premier league, brought him his second Grammy in 2016 for the successful recording as well as another Tony in the category „Best Orchestration“. Alex has also been hard at work as the Music Supervisor and Orchestrator for Dear Evan Hansen, which recently opened on Broadway to universal critical acclaim, garnering him another Tony nomination for Best Orchestrations.

„Times of radical change, such as experienced during the Cuban revolution, and to some extent again today, give rise to provocative emotional scenarios of a sensual or rebellious nature and, as we experience up close on the stage, find appropriate expression in dance and music. It‘s like the principle of the pressure cooker in which we have cooked up Renshaw‘s idea of a new Carmen.“

Stephen Clark

Edgar Vero (Co-arrangement)

Born in Cuba in 1985, the pianist, composer and arranger graduated from the Escuela National de Arte in Havana in 2004. Whilst the piano is the central element for his work, he rarely misses an opportunity to work equally passionately with percussion. From time to time he also works as a producer or musical director.

Productions and awards (selected):As a pianist he works with artists and groups from the worlds of jazz and pop such as Diakara and Leoni Torres and has toured with shows like Lady Salsa, Kings of Salsa, Ballet Revolutíon and Balletronic. His own compositions, which have been included in Kings of Salsa and Balletronic, include hits such as Elchico caramelo, interpreted by Charanga Habanera, and Si yo fuese tu, sung by Leoni Torres.

Kurt Crowley (Musical supervision)

Born in the United States, he studied Music and the Comparative Study of Religion at Harvard University and was able to pursue his study of sacred Indian music at a more advanced level in India when he received a grant from the John Knowles Paine Travelling Fellowship. After graduating he turned increasingly to musical theatre and has worked as a musical director and supervisor ever since. As conductor of the orchestra, for CARMEN LA CUBANA he was responsible for rehearsals in Cuba.

Productions and awards (selected):Hamilton, Bring It On: The Musical (Broadway), Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (off-Broadway), In the Heights (US tour), Fly: The Musical (original production) and the original album to Next Thing You Know.

Manny Schvartzman (Musical direction)

After studying at the School of Music at the FIU College of Architecture + the Arts in Miami, the versatile musician, supervisor and arranger soon made a name for himself in the professional world of musicals and Broadway.

Productions and awards (selected):Member of the original creative team of On Your Feet!, a musical with songs from and inspired by the life of Gloria Estefan (Marquis Theater, Broadway), musical direction and song arrangements for Real Men: the Musical (off-Broadway) and continuing intense collaboration with renowned theatres in Florida. In addition, as musical director and supervisor he has been responsible for over 150 productions at a range of US universities as well as for numerous shows by cruise ship companies, including Regent and Silver Sea and has twice won the Carbonell Award for Best Music Director for In the Heights and for Parade. In 2014, as musical director, he was part of the company of Rent, which was the first Broadway musical to be seen in Cuba for over 50 years.

„Without doubt this is George Bizet‘s Carmen. Even though we have dressed his music in a Cuban guise, which, to put it in the vernacular, makes it sounds some-what ‚cooler‘, it‘s so brilliantly written, so melodic, that whatever style and rhythm we have placed over it, the songs always retain their given line and their connection to one another.“

Alex Lacamoire

Tom Piper (Stage and costume)

Piper‘s involvement with the student theatre society at Cambridge University soon put an end to his original plans for a career as a biologist. Switching to study Art History, in only four years he designed the sets for over 30 shows which were also performed in Edinburgh, Avignon and northern Europe. Today this native Londoner is one of the most in-demand stage and costume designers in his country for theatre, opera, and musical theatre.

Productions and awards (selected):His earlier works in London include Monteverdi‘s L’Orfeo (Royal Opera House in coproduction with the Roundhouse Theatre), The House That Will Not Stand, Red Velvet and Bracken Moor (Tricycle Theatre), Zorro (Garrick Theatre, Amsterdam, Moscow, Tokyo, Paris, Atlanta and Broadway) and Dealer’s Choice (Menier Chocolate Factory). From 2004-2014 he worked as Associate Designer at the Royal Shakespeare Company creating numerous set designs and was nominated as Best Stage Designer in the 2009 Olivier Awards for Richard III, winning the award for his costume designs for this production. Other work has taken him to the Scottish Opera and the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow, the Theatre Royal in Bath and the Chichester Festival Theatre as well as the Garsington Opera. In collaboration with Paul Cummins, in 2014 he created the installation „Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red“ at the Tower of London which drew 4 million people to see it.

Roclan Gonzalez Chavez (Choreography)

After graduating in Contemporary and Folk Dance from the Escuela Nacional de Arte in Havana in 1996, the native Cuban was the only student in his year to receive a grant for further studies in Choreography. Since that time he has been responsible for some of the most significant music and dance groups in his country as well as around the world for stage, TV and video productions.

Productions and awards (selected):Collaboration with artists such as Omara Portuondo, Compay Segundo, the musicians of the Buena Vista Social Club, the Salsa Big Band Los Van An, the Cuban Television Ballet and the world-renowned Tropicana Cabaret. His other work has included choreography for globally successful dance sensation Ballet Revolucíon, stage show Lady Salsa, the annual awarding of the Cuban Music Prize, current videos to songs from Enrique Iglesias and Mark Anthony and most recently the European MTV Awards. He presented two of his most important choreographies at London‘s Royal Albert Hall for the Royal Variety Show 2013.

„Cuba is mambo, Cuba is cha-cha-cha, Cuba is spiritual voodoo with African roots, it is French inspired danzón and is reflected in the many folk dances of the cam-pesinos. And we, as representatives of such a small island enjoying the privilege of being permitted to present our world on the theatre stage, feel pride when we look at ourselves as cultural ambassadors for the Cuban nation.“

Roclan Gonzalez Chavez

Fabrice Kebour (Lighting design)

With over 200 productions to his name and more than 25 years of experience as a freelance lighting designer, he began his career with a gifted student grant from the United Scenic Artists foundation in New York. Here he enjoyed the privilege of assisting the best in their field off Broadway as well as on the very best Broadway stages and of bringing to life his own first designs. Five years later he returned to Paris where the native Frenchman started his international career in 1987.

Productions and awards (selected):Collaboration with Giorgio Barberio Corsetti for the comedy Un Chapeau de paille d’Italie at the Comédie-Française, Don Carlo at the Mariinski Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Macbeth and Turandot at La Scala in Milan as well as numerous productions with David Pountney and other renowned artists such as Hélène Vincent, Terry Hands, Dirk Tanghe, Jean-Louis Martinoty, Patrice Leconte or, Yoshi Oida. He developed the lighting design for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Asian Games 2006 in Doha and for musical productions by Cameron Mackintosh, including Les Misérables and Miss Saigon. He has been nominated three times for a Molière award, the national theatre awards of France.

Matthew Cole (Co-director)

In addition to his numerous other engagements, the choreographer and director was Resident Director for the show The Railway Children at London‘s King‘s Cross Theatre. Still active as an actor and dancer in renowned West End productions, he is concentrating increasingly on his talent for artistic work behind the scenes.

Productions and awards (selected):As a choreographer Cole has been responsible for the musical Babes in Arms at the Royal Festival Hall as well as for Pure Imagination and Jerry’s Girls at the St. James Theatre, Amour at the Royal Academy of Music, The Return of the Soldier and Jerry’s Girls at the Jermyn Street Theatre, Bette Midler and Me at the Gate House and The Road to Qatar at the Landor Theatre. He worked as co-choreographer for the restaging of Guys and Dolls for the Chichester Festival Theatre as well as at London‘s Savoy Theatre, and held the position of Resident Director for the British tour of West Side Story.

Jon Lee (Production Coordinator Cuba)

Jon‘s career began as a professional trumpeter with engagements at renowned West End theatres. In 1995 he founded the jazz orchestra Echoes of Ellington which toured for two years with the jazz ballet The Nutcracker Sweeties presented by the Birmingham Royal Ballet. A guest at all the major jazz festivals, the orchestra was regularly to be seen at legendary London jazz club Ronnie Scott‘s. His passion for Latin American music inspired Lee to produce his first Cuban show Lady Salsa in collaboration with Toby Gough, which was originally staged at the Edinburgh Festival in 1997.

Productions and awards (selected):Lady Salsa, touring the world for years after a 16-month run in London‘s West End, in coproduction with Mark Brady of the ATA Allstar Artists Pty Ltd The Bar at Buena Vista, The Kings of Salsa, The Creole Choir of Cuba and dance sensation Ballet Revolución.

„Carmen understands her fate yet doesn‘t know how she should meet it to ensure a better life for herself; from this point of view we can compare her situation with that of Cuba. And this is the real, absolutely central question. I am interested in what new things this character can reveal to me about Cuba – for the past, the present and for the future.“

Norge Espinosa Mendoza