Serving as her acting debut, Beyoncé stars as Carmen Brown in the 2001 adaptation of the 1875 opera Carmen. Produced by MTV, Carmen: A Hip Hopera is the second major adaptation of the opera to feature an all-black cast, the first being the 1943 Broadway musical (and its 1954 Oscar-nominated film adaptation) Carmen Jones. MTV's version is the first widely-released musical involving mostly rap and it's glorious.