Pittsburgh, PA…
January 17, 2019
Chris Cox, Director of Marketing and Communications
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Pittsburgh Opera presents Puccini’s masterpiece La bohème
When a candle flickers, love sparks
Pittsburgh, PA… Pittsburgh Opera returns to the Benedum Center with Puccini’s La bohème, opera’s biggest tear-jerker, March 30-April 7.
Set against the backdrop of 1830s Paris, La bohème follows four impoverished artists surviving with little more than friendship, passion, and love for their art. When Rodolfo, a poet, and Mimì, a young seamstress, meet, the two are drawn into a tumultuous and passionate affair with a love that can only be broken by death.
Emotional and dramatic, it’s no wonder Puccini’s most celebrated opera has transcended the genre, inspiring both a ballet and the Broadway hit musical RENT.
La bohème will make you laugh, and bring you to tears, with its timeless story and captivating music.
Nicole Cabell, winner of the BBC Singer of the World Competition, makes her Pittsburgh Opera debut as Mimì. Jean-Luc Tingaud conducts. Stephanie Havey directs.
As always, English supertitles will be projected above the stage.
Performance dates/times/location/length/language
Where: Benedum Center for the Performing Arts, downtown Pittsburgh
When:
- Sat., March 30, 2019 * 8:00 PM
- Tues., April 2, 2019 * 7:00 PM
- Fri., April 5, 2019 * 7:30 PM
- Sun., April 7, 2019 * 2:00 PM
Run Time:
2 hours, 27 minutes, with two intermissions
Language:
Sung in Italian with English texts projected above the stage
Fun facts
- La bohème was based on the 1851 book “Scenes of Bohemian Life” by Henri Murger, based on his own impoverished bohemian Parisian life. The book was a collection of stories, not a novel with a standard plot. Most of the stories had been previously published individually in a Parisian magazine between 1845 and 1849, before Murger and Théodore Barrière co-wrote a play based on them in 1849. The play’s success created demand for a book containing all the stories, which was published in 1851.
- Puccini’s opera La bohème premiered in 1896. In 1897, a second opera with the same name and storyline debuted, written by Ruggero Leoncavallo. Leoncavallo’s is rarely performed today.
- The two lead singers in Pittsburgh Opera’s production are both veterans of TV singing competitions. Sean Panikkar (Rodolfo), a Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist alum, was a star on America’s Got Talent in 2013 as a member of the vocal group Forte. Nicole Cabell (Mimì) won the 2005 BBC Singer of the World Competition in Cardiff, Wales.
Media Events
Please contact Chris Cox for reservations
- Photo Call (March 18, 12:30 PM) – location TBA
- Full Dress Rehearsal (March 28, 7:00 PM), Benedum Center
