Culture of epic proportions will occupy Smothers tonight as curtains rise to premier one of the most celebrated operas of all time: Giacomo Puccini’s “La Boheme.” Though the performances will be held both tonight and Saturday tickets are rapidly becoming scarce as awareness of this production’s uniqueness spreads through the community.
The opera combines the talents of the legendary Puccini who composed the musical score and Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa who created the libretto— the arrangement of words scenes stage directions costuming and other particulars to accompany the music.
Since its initial premier in 1896, “La Boheme” has found an audience in all traditions and societies in which it has premiered. The story line is based on a series of descriptive articles about bohemian life written by French novelist and poet Henri Murger. Murger loosely centered the vignettes on his struggles as part of a small circle of the artists and writers living in the Latin Quarter of 1840s Paris.
The title character, Rodolfo, is a playwright working on his masterpiece. He falls in love with the gentle Mimi who works night and day to support him in his artistic effort. As Rodolfo draws near to finishing his play a love triangle ensues between the two and Mimi’s attentive employer. A jealous Rodolfo storms out leaving the ill Mimi vying for his return.
Despite the fact that the story is presented in Italian, the emotions of “La Boheme” seem to cross cultural boundaries to express the essence of humanness. However, viewers at Smothers will also have the benefit of English supertitles projecting over the stage to help follow the all-Italian performance.
Henry Price professor of music directs the stellar student cast accompanied by the high-scale talents of conductor Tony Cason and the Pepperdine Orchestra.
Price himself is a renowned artist whose accreditations include a 1978 Grammy for Best Opera Recording. His distinguished career as a leading tenor has given him the benefit of both sides of the stage granting this particular production a superior edge. In addition to singing the opera in its original Italian Price has also played Rodolfo in English and German productions.
However Price still put considerable deliberation into casting the specified vocal requirements of the opera. Price explained that the decision to even perform an opera can only come when “there are viable candidates available for each role.” He admits “La Boheme” is particularly difficult to cast for especially at an undergraduate level since the title characters require “rare” voice types comprised of “sizeable vocal gift and technical acumen.”
Price explained that “not every classical voice is built to project over a Puccini orchestra. That is why [he] had to seize this opportunity when it arose.”
Some members of this cast may seem familiar to frequent theater-goers; the ensemble was pieced together through a string of recent collaborations. Several cast members including leads Jason Racine and Kaley Soderquist appeared in last year’s opera “The Magic Flute and most performed in last semesters’ hit musical Sweeny Todd.”
Even the orchestra was groomed for the occasion with many of them collaborating with Price as far back as the Heidelberg Summer Music Program last year.
Cason says he and the orchestra have been preparing for the event throughout this semester with nightly cast rehearsals during the past five weeks. However he feels the effort has paid off and describes the voice and orchestra combination as a “unique experience” audience members are sure to enjoy.
If this cast can be called anything it’s certainly “unique.” Some members of the assembly aren’t even music majors.
Leading actor Aaron Gallington playing the character of “Rodolfo is a music/theatre major, which Price describes as very far in technique and practice from operatic training. Caroline Uribe, playing opposite as Mimi is an advertising major. However, she describes herself as a musical person by nature, whose talents caught the attention of teachers as early as elementary school. At a teachers’ suggestion, her mother enrolled her in voice lessons where she received training from an opera singer who taught her all the basics of classical singing in addition to inspiring” and nurturing her “passion for opera.” Both leads say they’ve now found their calling in opera as their professional field.
Though Price acknowledges that there is no such thing as a perfect cast he “could not imagine a better one at this level.” He says this opera stands out from all others in which he’s both starred and directed. Price calls the qualities of this opera ” an experience” that must be seen and heard. He and his wife Martha along with musical coach Louise Lofquist have worked tirelessly to help the cast “bring this beautiful story alive.”
The Flora L. Thornton Opera Program is behind the performance of this event. The endowment funds the school’s opera program including full production costs for performances that allowed the production to rent the sets and costumes from the Opera Theatre of St. Louis complementing the auditory magnificence of Puccini rival visuals. The musical growth and appreciative reaction of this cast and crew alone are demonstrative of how life-altering a production like this can be. “La Boheme” in particular has had the power to inspire generations of art and music in all genres: The musical “Rent” is the urbanized retelling of this classic. Artistic and fashion seasons and movements have also been devoted to the opera’s central ideals of youth innovation and romanticism.
It’s no wonder everyone is clamoring to get their hands on tickets to this event— tonight’s opera is a tailored affair that is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Price admits “It’s not often that a cast comes along of undergrad age that can sing this opera.” That this cast is the about the same age as the actual characters adds a sense of realism.
The opportunity to see or be in a performance such as this is truly rare at best; missing it would be just as tragic as the misfortunes that befall Rodolfo and Mimi.