Lakewood’s own Grammy-winning opera singer returns to Seattle as Carmen
After over 100 performances in more than a dozen different productions playing the eponymous character, opera singer J’Nai Bridges has made it indisputably clear: Carmen is her calling.
The Lakewood native has played the iconic temptress across the world, from Los Angeles to London. But her upcoming production is by far the most special, she said.
This May, Bridges is returning to her Washington roots to play her signature role for four days at Seattle Opera’s Carmen.
“It’s almost like a thank you to everyone who poured into me,” Bridges said. “I would most definitely not be who I am today without my village of Tacoma, Lakewood and Seattle.”
Bridges grew up in Lakewood with her parents and three siblings. Though she had a musical background playing piano and performing in church choir, her primary focus in adolescence was basketball.
She played competitively, proving her way into the role of captain by the time she was in high school. But after disagreements with her coach caused her to be benched for an important game, she had enough of the sport, she said.
Instead, she honed her ambitions on one of her other talents: singing. And the vocal lessons paid off.
Bridges trained for ten years at different schools across the United States, fine-tuning her mezzo-soprano voice. She’s since won two Grammies, performed internationally for prestigious venues like the Metropolitan Opera and even been deemed by BET as “the Beyoncé of opera.”
But her journey with Carmen began before the international acclaim, at her senior opera at the Curtis Institute of Music in 2012.
“I just love playing her,” Bridges said. “She doesn’t ever feel bad for herself. She doesn’t backtrack on who she is, ever. She doesn’t bow down.”
“Carmen,” a 151-year-old French opera by George Bizet, follows the tale of Don José, a Spanish soldier who deserts his duties for a life of smuggling with Carmen, a free-spirited Romani factory worker. As she rebels against society’s expectations, moving from one man to the next as she desires, José’s attraction to Carmen proves fatal.
The themes of class and violence against women in Carmen ring true even to this day, Bridges said.
“The fact that we are still at such high rates dealing with domestic violence, women being murdered at high rates daily by the hands of men is, sadly, still very much a relevant theme,” Bridges said.
Since her senior showcase 14 years ago, Bridges has played Carmen over 100 times in 15 different productions across the globe, she said.
Despite her extensive experience, Bridges brings an openness to playing the character through a director’s particular vision, said Paul Curran, the stage director and choreographer of the opera.
“I love watching her hunger for fleshing out the character in a way that is important to her as an artist and to her as a woman,” Curran said.
Carmen is a boundary-breaking opera. It originally debuted in France to an unexcited audience used to watching tales of opulence and royalty. Bizet died two months after the premiere thinking his opera was a failure, Curran said.
“Here was a piece about very ordinary working class people and working class things,” Curran said. “And the French audience hated that.”
In the years following, the opera rapidly gained popularity through productions outside of France. By the end of the 1800s, its catchy arias and realistic depictions of proletariat life became widely celebrated.
The cultural relevance of opera, and ballet for the matter, has been a hot topic since actor Timothée Chalamet shared his controversial take on the centuries-old art forms in February.
“I don’t want to be working in ballet, or opera, or things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though like no one cares about this anymore’,” Chalamet said at a CNN and Variety Town Hall Event.
Bridges and Curran couldn’t disagree more.
“I know a lot of companies are making efforts to include and bring people in, lowering ticket prices, but also telling new stories,” Bridges said. “People want to see themselves on stage. So the fact that I am a Black, young Carmen singing at Seattle Opera, it’s actually a big deal.”
“Seattle Opera has been way, way in advance with making opera accessible to people,” Curran said. “It costs you an awful lot less to come and see this than it does to go and see a Taylor Swift concert.”
Following Chalamet’s controversial quip, Seattle Opera’s marketing team gained online traction for their witty response on social media.
“All we’ve got to say is... use promo code TIMOTHEE to save 14% off select seats for Carmen,” the post said. “Timmy, you’re welcome to use it too. See you at the opera!”
The promotion sold 203 tickets with the discount code, resulting in $28,828 in sales, The Seattle Times reported.
“No, Timothée, they’re not dying. You got it wrong, mate,” Curran said. “Ask anybody that comes to buy a ticket. It ain’t dying, baby.”
Bridges will appear as Carmen on May 3, 9, 13 and 17 at McCaw Hall. She shares the role with Sasha Cooke, who performs on May 2, 8, 10 and 16.
