Carmen Wong is a new 90-minutes adaption of George Bizet’s iconic opera for five singers in two scenes and set in a bar, with a score for chamber ensemble by Marco Iannelli. Carmen, Micäela and Mércedès are bargirls; Don José is a police officer who stumbles upon a criminal operation run by the gangster Escamillo. By condensing the story to its principals, Carmen Wong maintains all the best-known music, while distilling the drama. It features narrations from the original novel, a modified story-line and lyrics.
The adaption has been performed three times at the Shenzhen School of Music in January 2026 and twice at the Xinghai Conservatory in Guangzhou in June 2026.
Shenzhen School of Music
Xinghai Conservatory, Guangzhou
The production was developed for the French May and as part of the “Carmen 2025” programme celebrating the opera’s 150th anniversary, and premiering at the Hong Kong Peninsula, Carmen Wong was performed in a variety of staged and semi-staged versions throughout the year, including two staged performances at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in October 2025.
These staged performances for four principals featured Ashley Chui and Etta Fung as the two bar hostesses Carmen and Micaëla, Chen Yong as José and Isaac Droscha as the colonial policeman Escamillo, with Jaclyn Chiu on piano.
Musical selections from the adaption:
The debut performance at The Peninsula Hotel’s Felix was accompanied by Hsu Wei-en on piano.
By condensing the story to its four principals, Carmen Wong maintains all the best-known music, while distilling the drama. It features narrations from the original novel, a modified story-line and lyrics.
L’Histoire de Carmen
L’histoire de Carmen is a 40-minute multimedia presentation offering a new rendition of the timeless story. Centred on selections from the opera, infused with narrative from the original novel by Prosper Mérimée (itself celebrating its 180th anniversary in 2025) – it brings to life one of Europe’s most fascinating literary characters. The open-air performance on 10 May 2025 for Opera Hong Kong and the Europe Union’s “Europe Day” featured Ashley Chui as Carmen, Chen Yong as Don José, Candace Chung as Micaëla and Alfred Lim as Escamillo. Ronald Cheung was on piano.
