'Close-Up with Carmen'—about the intersection of drag and opera—will take place Thursday, Sept. 9, at 6 p.m. at the Hoover-Leppen Theatre at Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted St.

During this event, participants will discuss cross-dressing and drag in opera—throughout history and today—interspersed by performance.

The event will feature musicologist Katherine Syer and bass-baritone/drag performer John Taylor Ward. Chicago Opera Theater (COT) Staley Music Director Lidiya Yankovskaya will be the panel moderator and Edna D. Mascara (aka Andy Foxhoven) will host.

The discussion is in connection with COT's upcoming Carmen, running Sept. 16 and 18 at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph St.. Queer mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton—who The New York Times dubbed "opera's nose-studded rock star"—will make her role debut as the titular femme fatale. And Blythely Oratonio—the tenor alter ego of the legendary Stephanie Blythe—will sing his first Don Jose.

More about the panel discussion is at Website Link Here .