“La Boheme” reviewed by Jacob Davis

[rating=5] No matter what the weather’s like outside, it will be a picturesque winter season at the Lyric with their new production of La bohème. The first of what could nearly be called a season of crowd pleasers, Giacomo Puccini’s 1896 melodic take on verismo is one of the few operas to have remained in pop culture. This new production sparkles with the scenery of nineteenth century Paris, an easily-accessible score led by a new conductor, and a cast that displays real tenderness and ribaldry.

Conductor Domingo Hindoyan performed for the Lyric for the first time earlier this year at the season teaser in Millennium Park, and tenor Michael Fabiano is making his Lyric debut in the role of the young romantic Rodolfo. Maybe that’s part of why opening night had such electrical energy. The story begins with Rodolfo and his roommate Marcello (Zachary Nelson) freezing in their loft apartment when they are rescued by their provision-bearing friends, Colline (Adrian Sâmpetrean) and Schaunard (Ricardo José Rivera-another Lyric debut). After some hijinks, Rodolfo meets and becomes infatuated with the downstairs neighbor, Mimì, (Maria Agresta), setting off a whirlwind tragic romance against the backdrop of the harsh Orléanist Latin Quarter.

Fans of Rent may be surprised that, in this production, Mimì comes across as the responsible friend. Agresta is loud enough, but her Mimì is self-contained and a calm, empathic listener. (She played Liù in last season’s Turandot in a very similar fashion.) Fabiano’s Rodolpho regales her with the aria Che gelida manina, in which he praises his impoverished, thrill-seeking lifestyle, performed in heroic fashion for his one-woman audience. She returns the favor with her own aria, Sì, mi chiamano Mimì, which slowly builds up to her own simple enjoyments from flowers and reading while he sits enraptured. They’re very cute together and it was a wise choice by director Richard Jones to have Mimì read some of Rodolfo’s scribblings. So, too, was the decision to have Mimì obviously look for reasons to talk to Rodolpho, since it makes her a co-protagonist.

Jones’s design team really shines in Act II, when the group enjoys Christmas Eve out. Set and costume designer Stewart Laing and lighting designer Mimi Jordan Sherin have created a Paris that is simultaneously as lovely and foreboding as London in any quality production of A Christmas Carol. The chaos of the crowd allows you to imagine the scents of oranges and roast pecans they describe. This scene also provides the production’s unforgettable moment, when Marcello’s ex-girlfriend, Musetta (Danielle de Niese) becomes supremely drunk and belligerent to the astonished whoops of the audience. Nelson’s Marcello is a jovial, magnetic presence in his own right, and while he’s scary in Act III, it’s easy to see how he and Musetta worked as a couple. Bass-baritone Jake Gardner plays two comic support roles, as the lecherous landlord and Musetta’s current sugar daddy. His curmudgeonly snarling provides the rest of the cast with a lot to play off during Musetta’s Quando m’en vo’, and good thing, too, since de Niese’s Musetta must have a colossal amount of frustration built up to rebel in such a fashion.

A story about impetuous youths encountering serious stakes for the first time in their adult lives, it’s easy to see why La bohème remains perennially popular. The silliness of Marcello and company that was so funny in Act I when it was directed against their pear-faced king and his dead-eyed minister becomes tiresome in Act IV, when they suddenly find themselves woefully ill-equipped to deal with an emergency. As an opportunity for new fans to find their way to opera, it helps that Puccini’s music doesn’t overwhelm the characters and that the libretto doesn’t lean on it too heavily for emotional impact. But Hindoyan leads the orchestra with great enthusiasm. Despite it being only marginally shorter than most operas, the time flies by. If anybody who loves Rent is waiting for the right production to experience its source material, or if any long-time opera buff is very familiar with La bohème and doesn’t want to see it again unless it has new energy, this is an ideal opportunity.

La bohème will continue at the Civic Opera House, 20 N Upper Wacker Drive, Chicago, thru October 20 and from January 10­–25 2019, with the following showtimes:

October 11:        2:00 pm

October 14:        2:00 pm

October 17:        7:00 pm

October 20:        7:30 pm

January 10:         7:00 pm

January 13:         2:00 pm

January 16:         2:00 pm

January 19:         7:30 pm

January 22:         7:00 pm

January 25:         7:00 pm

Running time is two hours and fifteen minutes with one intermission.

The Lyric offers parking deals with Poetry Garage at 201 W Madison St. if inquired about in advance. Tickets are $49-299; to order, visit LyricOpera.org or call 321-827-5600.

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “La bohème.”