This poet was quick to his emotions, but not a deep, complex fellow.

In his house debut, Yosep Kang gave us an impetuous and slightly awkward Rodolfo. The Bohemian Boys’ ClubĪll the principal singers sang well and as a crew had a youthful, quirky chemistry. Additionally more effort should be made with set details to create a stronger sense of life existing offstage past the scenery: for example, when the tavern doorway opened in Act three, there was only blank scenic muslin - no walls, no furniture, no people, no life. Jung.īut the artists’ garret in the first and last acts was disappointing-illogically outsized in scale for starving artists and one dimensional with merely a painted backdrop suggesting a faux staircase and balcony.

The scenes in Act two outside Cafè Momus in Paris’ Latin Quarter and the snowy Act three toll-gate and tavern were visually beautiful with spatial depth and a sense of atmosphere, evocatively lit by Chad R. The sets were originally designed by Ercole Sormani in 1965 (these were likely newer recreations or significantly restored as they looked quite fresh). The staging was conventional with traditional period costumes and sets, and tended toward the predictable I don’t recall any moment when the stage business delighted me by illuminating any new facet of the plot or character relationships. Darker themes relevant to 2021 were there-artists grappling to overcome poverty, a tragic death from an infectious lung disease-but there were no attempts to particularly underline them in this presentation. The choice of “La Bohème” for the reopening made sense: it’s an audience favorite with a cast that is young and playful, music that is full of energy and romance, and settings that transport us to another time and place. The theater’s main curtain, a scarlet-red velvet with a handful of red sequins sprinkled across its panels to subtly catch the light as it gently sways, never looked so magical. Lobby areas across Seattle Opera’s home, the beautifully appointed McCaw Hall, were bustling with masked (and fully vaccinated) audience members greeting each other after a long separation and anticipating the thrill of having live opera carry them collectively away. Immense goodwill was palpable all through the theater on the opening night of Seattle Opera’s first fully staged live production in 18 months, Puccini’s “La Bohème.” The company adroitly produced its full 2020-21 subscription season through online streaming during the pandemic, so clearly everyone was ecstatic to be back in the theater in person.

Seattle opera boheme