Carmen by Georges Bizet Anchorage Opera, Discovery Theater, 10 November 1988 An uninspired CARMEN is still Carmen, and I heard it sung onstage for the first time here. The production was long (three 15-minute intermissions) and unimaginative, but even with that the unparalleled collection of songs held us firmly throughout. A chubby Leslie Richards-Pellegrini sang Carmen adequately but with little flash. Her acting was saucy enough but her vocals rarely reached beyond the ordinary. Peter Puzzo was a decent Don Jose, but I was also disappointed by Stephen Lusmann's Escamillo. He was musically appropriate in the role but failed to deliver the punch I wanted from his songs. Two Anchorage women (Marlene Bateman as Mercedes and Michelle Pippin as Frasquita) carried their roles better than anybody else on stage. Both sang well and lustily and were animated actors in a production that otherwise limped along. Stephen Paul Aiken, whom I liked very much as Papagano in Flute here, did a decent but overly broad job as Morales and El Dancairo. The Anchorage symphony was conducted by Fiora Contino; stage director was Dwight Bowes, with scenery and costumes from Sacramento Opera. I want to see CARMEN again and again.