Butt Out, Carmen

An Australian opera company has banned a production of "Carmen" because, it says, the opera promotes smoking. As those of you who have seen this opera a dozen times know, it begins outside a cigarette factory where Carmen and friends are provocatively puffing.

We weren't aware that Bizet's opera promoted smoking. Cigarettes are not usually offered to the audience. The musicians in the pit aren't lighting up. There are no camels in the story.

How can this Aussie opera company come to terms with Carmen? Could the factory be producing e-cigarettes? Probably not.

Happily, Oliver Fieldhagen, an opera buff of long-standing, has come up with a solution: the cigarette mill will become a bubble gum factory. When the curtain rises, Carmen and her friends will blow gigantic pink bubbles. Bravo!