REMENDADO
The rol of Remendado from «Carmen», composed by George Bizet, will be performed at Stadttheater Pforzheim during the whole 2025-26 season
Stage concept by Claudia Isabel Martín
ROLE INFORMATION
NAME: Remendado
AGE: Somewhere over his 20s
PROFESSION/STUDIES: Thief/Smuggler
FAMILY: The Gypsies Band is his family
FRIENDS: Dancaïro, Frasquita, Mercedes & Carmen
LOVE: Free Love
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Height unknown, build unknown. He likes to dress in gypsy fashion. Loose & curly hair
PSYCHOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION: Lives to love and steals for pleasure. Loves being the center of attention and won’t hesitate for a second to pull out a knife for the people he cares about. He is a very sweet and loving gypsy, but can be incredibly ruthless
HOBBIES: Dancing exotic dances, stealing wallets, and pretending he is still a teenager
FAVORS: He is very sensitive and loyal
DEFECTS: He falls in love easily with anyone and takes almost nothing seriously
PERSONAL ITEMS: Lucky coins, lucky handkerchief
WHAT IF
What would happen if a gypsy were bisexual and a thief?
He would steal your heart, your wallet, and everything of value that isn’t attached to your body (and what is attached too…).
The truth is, I’m not going to hide it, I love the pleasures of the body (of any kind of person…). That adrenaline rush when I am between two bodies, feeling every muscle tense up… the only thing that beats me more it is the pleasure of seeing the fear in someone’s eyes when the knife is grazing their skin…
They say I’m a sadomasochist… but the truth is that I love extreme risks, and dangerous situations turn me on…
Don’t worry, the last person who spent the night with me was only missing a finger when he woke up, but I can assure you that he spent the whole night touching heaven.
Always yours,
Remendado
SYNOPSIS
«Carmen»
Le Remendado, whose name is a nickname, meaning “the Cobbler” or “the one who mends clothes,” is one of the smugglers who appear in the opera. He is a clear tenor, while Dancaïro has a darker voice, which reinforces the variety of vocal colors in the group scenes. Like Dancaïro, he is not a protagonist, but he embodies the free and clandestine world in which Carmen moves. His role is usually interpreted with mischievous and lively air, often in a comic key.
He first appears in Act II in Lillas Pastia’s tavern. He enters with Dancaïro to recruit Carmen, Frasquita, and Mercédès for a smuggling mission in Gibraltar. He participates in the famous “Smugglers’ Quintet” (“Nous avons en tête une affaire”), where he is shown to be Dancaïro’s right-hand man, helping him convince Carmen to join the special mission.
In Act III, he is back at the bandits’ camp, contributing to the choral ensembles. He has sung dialogue, reinforcing the feeling of a conspiratorial group. Finally, he is the one who discovers Micaëla when she hides to contact Don José.
It is a role written for a light or character tenor, with fast, flexible, and often playful lines. In the quintet, he is given sparkling music, with agility that underscores his role as a witty accomplice. His voice also complements that of the mezzo-sopranos (Carmen, Mercédès), giving great timbral richness to the ensemble.
Like Dancaïro, Remendado does not drive the main action (love, jealousy, tragedy), but: He introduces the audience to the world of smuggling, provides a light contrast in the midst of a drama that will grow darker, and serves as a counterpoint to Don José, showing the marginal world into which the soldier ends up falling.
Interesting facts
His role is very brief, which means that it is often sung by young tenors as a starting point in the French repertoire.
In some modern productions, both he and Dancaïro become a kind of “comic duo,” giving them more acting prominence even though their music is limited.
The character also comes from Mérimée’s novel Carmen, where smugglers are referred to by colorful nicknames.