Regarded as one of the greatest love stories in opera, Puccini’s La bohème embraces the passion and torment of bohemian life. A chance encounter on a winter night changes everything for Mimì and Rodolfo, sending them into a deep, passionate whirlwind in the heart of Paris, living among other young bohemians who are making art and falling in love. Desire, jealousy, and fate charge the score – and audiences with it.

Davide Livermore’s “visually inventive and colorful” (Opera News) production was first performed by Opera Philadelphia in 2012. Since then it has traveled to the Palau de les Arts “Reina Sofía” in Valencia, Spain and made its way back to close out Opera Philadelphia’s 2018-2019 season.

The art collections of the Barnes Foundation and the Philadelphia Museum of Art served as the inspiration for the production designers, with vivid projections of some of the world’s most renowned Impressionist art from the turn of the 20th century—including works from Renoir, Monet, Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Cassatt— with costumes and other design elements influenced by paintings and drawings from the collections.

“The incredible collections from the Barnes Foundation and the Philadelphia Museum of Art provide a rich patina that combine with the lush melodies of Puccini to create new interactions with both art forms. We see Renoir's ‘Woman Sewing’ as Mimì sings of her job as a seamstress. Van Gogh's beloved ’Sunflowers’ blooms in time with the love of Mimì and Rodolfo, and when he famously buys her a bonnet, we see Renoir's ’Girl With Pink Bonnet.’” said David B. Devan, General Director & President of Opera Philadelphia.

Opera Philadelphia’s Jack Mulroney Music Director, Corrado Rovaris, leads the cast, “intelligently maintaining the pace of Puccini’s not-a-note-wasted score” (Philadelphia Inquirer). Soprano Vanessa Vasquez, a graduate of Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts, is the shy seamstress Mimì alongside tenor Evan LeRoy Johnson, a Curtis Institute of Music graduate, as Rodolfo. Baritone Troy Cook offers “a strong, well-rounded portrayal of Marcello” (Opera News). Opera Philadelphia Emerging Artist Ashley Marie Robillard who plays the role of Musetta--Marcello’s muse and sometimes girlfriend—is “winning as the saucy Musetta” (Chestnut Hill Local). Baritone Will Liverman, who returns to Opera Philadelphia in September in the company premiere of Prokofiev’s The Love for Three Oranges, is a “vividly drawn, beautifully vocalized Schaunard” (Opera News), with bass Peixin Chen as Colline and bass Kevin Burdette in the dual role of Benoit and Alcindoro.