Madison Opera’s ‘La Bohème’ is a tale as old as time | Entertainment

When “La Bohème” premiered in 1896 it was met with criticism and hushed whispers that the opera would not survive long. Nearly 130 years later, Giaocomo Puccini’s opera is one of the most famous operas in the world. 

At Madison Opera “Bohème” has been a staple, performed five times throughout the company’s 65-year history, with the last being in 2015. In 1963, “La Bohème” was the first full opera the company ever put on, performed in the auditorium of Madison East High School. This November, “Bohème” returns a sixth time, running Nov. 7 and Nov. 9 in Overture Hall. 

“If you’ve never seen an opera before, this is the one to see,” said Kyle White, a Michigan-based baritone who plays Marcello, one of the four main characters in the opera. 

Indeed, Puccini’s music has permeated every corner of popular culture. Whether it’s the Broadway hit “Rent” or an episode of the Simpsons, “La Bohème” is everywhere. Emily Secor, a Wisconsin-based soprano who plays Musetta, said she even heard an aria in the background of a “Golden Girls” episode recently. 

The opera follows four struggling artists living in the Latin Quarter of 1830s Paris. Rodolfo (Terrence Chin-Loy), a poet, meets Mimì (Renée Richardson), a seamstress and a neighbor of theirs. The two instantly fall in love, while another of the roommates, Marcello (White), a painter, navigates his relationship with Musetta (Secor), an old girlfriend who he still loves — and who still loves him, despite her new relationship with the elderly but rich Alcindoro (Alex Taylor). 

Over two hours and 40 minutes, the two couples navigate jealousy, poverty and Mimì’s declining health. 

“‘La Bohème’ really does have some of the most heartbreaking scenes and such memorable tunes,” said Chin-Loy, the Floridian tenor who plays Rodolfo. “I feel so lucky to be able to be here and to use my body, my voice, to give life to this music.”

“There’s a consistent theme of love throughout this opera,” Secor added. “You may not be living in the 1830s, but the same concepts apply always. It’s just like a neverending understanding of the ups and downs of relationships … how it feels to be in love with someone and to lose someone.”

Starving artists? ‘Let’s laugh about it’

The principal actors agree that while “La Bohème” premiered 129 years ago, the story it tells — one of love but also one of intense struggle, grief and hardship — is deeply relatable to both audience members but also themselves as people. 

“Anyone who has tried to come up in the world of the arts in general, but certainly in opera, has had to make sacrifices, and has had to make do with less sometimes,” Chin-Loy said.

White agreed. “Everyone has been in their early to mid 20s, and so poor and trying to find humor and joy in things that most people later in their life would find so sad,” he said. “We have a loaf of bread to split for dinner tonight, let’s at least laugh about it. 

“I think having all of us have had that part in our life definitely is an asset for this production.”

For Richardson, a Philadelphia-based soprano who plays Mimì and has sung the role before, the play brings her back to a summer she spent in New York and her “Bohemian lifestyle” then, which consisted of walking everywhere and treating days she could get food from a halal cart as a luxury. 

“Looking back, you didn’t think that you were struggling,” she said. “You were just like, ‘we’re artists.’” 

Since beginning rehearsals Oct. 18 under the direction of Alison Pogorelc, the four have had to learn the staging as well as how to work together. White and Richardson performed in Wolf Trap Opera’s 2024 production of Mozart’s “Così fan tutte” — which Madison Opera will put on next April — but many of them met less than two weeks ago and have had to build chemistry quickly. 

White says that a particular struggle they faced was reconciling their visions of the production to reality once they all began rehearsing together. Individual line readings differed from how they had practiced at home, and the addition of staging proved both mentally and physically challenging. 

“I sing an aria in the show that I’ve done for many years,” Secor said, “but I’ve never rehearsed that aria (while) sprinting around and throwing things and pushing people.”

In all, the rehearsal process has gone smoothly, the principals say, and the history and fame of “La Bohème” does not weigh heavy on them. Instead, Richardson says it energizes her and encourages her to go all in. 

“You know what people are thinking when they’re coming to see this opera,” Richardson said. “You know the expectations of this opera, and when you truly commit and do it, it’s just so great. 

“It’s not just only proving things to myself, but just also making sure that the audience gets to have that experience of knowing why people say this is one of the operas.”