Irene VanHam Friedlob wants everyone to love opera as much as she does. And, as founder/general director of Colorado Opera Troupe, she knows she's able to do something about that—even if it means changing some of the rules.

"We want to take on the role of encouraging people to come, by offering more abbreviated, less-threatening productions," the soprano said. For evidence of that mission, look no further than COT's daring double bill, "Femmes Fatales," presented this weekend at Gates Concert Hall.

Two of opera's most famous man-killers, Carmen and Salome, will share an innovative program, in which the operas by Bizet and Richard Strauss will be trimmed down and augmented by spoken-word segments intended to flesh out the stories and, Friedlob hopes, help create more fans for operas.

"We see this as a way you can lift people up," she said during a visit to the Rocky Mountain News. "We simply take the elements in each story that will speak to people. We're not pandering to them—we're just doing things differently."

Seated nearby, director Jennifer Berry embraced this experimental approach. "I find it very intriguing. What we're doing here is tying these two operas together in various ways—shared themes, the use of theatrical elements, and through movement and choreography.

"As a director, you just throw all this out to the audience like a beach ball."

Friedlob came up with the concept a year and a half ago. After being bowled over by a performance of Berry's play Permanently Missing at the Acoma Center in 2001, she knew she'd found her collaborator.

"I'm a writer and a director," Berry said, "so I could bring both elements to this. The timing was ideal. When I met Irene, I'd been looking to stretch myself."

This multimedia experiment has precedent, Friedlob noted, pointing to New York City Ballet's recent use of actor John Lithgow as storyteller in Carnival of the Animals.

When the construction of "Femmes Fatales" began, Friedlob knew she had to do some serious trimming to fit two operas into a single evening. For starters, peripheral characters in Bizet's Carmen were eliminated, leaving the core triangle of the sultry gypsy, her main squeeze, Don Jose, and her new lover Escamillo.

To help flesh out Carmen's complex character, a former lover, Marcos, was created.

"He's like Che in (the musical) Evita," Berry noted of the role, played by Alphonse Keasley. "Marcos is not a narrator, but someone who extends Carmen's character, who tells us about who she is, where she came from. I've made his language poetic, with words that feed into the music."

Turning to Salome, Friedlob opted to intermix the one-act opera with scenes from Oscar Wilde's play of the same name.

COT's staging incorporates 50 minutes from Strauss' opera, consisting of the scene between Jokanaan (John the Baptist) and Salome, the Dance of the Seven Veils and the confrontation of Salome and the severed head of Jokanaan. The opening and closing scenes will be preceded by corresponding segments from the play, acted by Mare Trevathan Philpott and Michael Cherrie.

Principal singers include Friedlob (Salome), Mary Christine Hughes (Carmen), Mark Thomsen (Don Jose) and David Malis (Escamillo and Jokanaan). Adam Flatt will conduct a 53-piece orchestra.

"It's like a mixed-media collage," Berry said of the staging.

Despite her lack of operatic experience, the process of creating this unusual production proved exhilirating, the director said. "Irene really did let me go—she believed in me. And that's what makes for a successful collaboration."

How successful remains to be seen. Yet both women are convinced that they're onto something.

"I would love to try this again," Berry said, without suggesting what the next project might be.

Friedlob also voiced optimism. "I envision us continuing this," she noted. "And I have no problem going with Jennifer. Her reservoir of knowledge can add another dimension to the company."

Will audiences embrace this new way of doing opera? Friedlob could only shrug. "You can't look at the what-ifs," she stressed. "I prefer to look at what's possible."