GOOD STUFF: uCarmen

Image from lobby of The Broad Stage by Bekah Wright

Change Your Life Travels will be spending the week in South Africa, so it seemed only fitting we give Los Angeles residents a heads up on a way to transport there for two hours -- via uCarmen at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica.

Happening now through Saturday, October 10 at The Broad Stage, this riveting performance comes by way of South Africa’s Isango Ensemble.

Isango's interpretation of French composer Georges Bizet's famed opera Carmen is being touted as: "Combining musical theater with pulsating African rhythms, Isango’s uCarmen is a fresh new take on one of the most popular operas of all time."

I had the opportunity to check it out during today's (10/4) matinee. From the moment I entered the theatre and saw barefoot cast members milling about onstage, waiting for the audience to take our seats and enter their world, I was drawn in by the township and its residents.

Image from thebroadstage.com/en/Performances/Theater/15_16_Productions/carmen/

And then, there was Carmen. It was easy to understand why the soldiers who were vying to become her lover were so smitten. Equally as riveting was a boomerang of potential couplings -- Micaela and Jose, Carmen and Jose, Carmen and Zuniga, Carmen and Escamillo...

Yes, drama ensues, and the ensemble's voices captivate.

I encourage all you Angelenos to catch a performance before uCarmen concludes on 10/10.

For more information visit The Broad Stage. Within the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center, The Broad Stage is located at 1310 11th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401. To reach the box office, phone 1-310-434-3200.