Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Gale Edwards Stages "La Bohème" For Opera Australia

"Berlin in the 1930s. The Spiegeltent’s fairy lights are twinkling and the music is playing but, in reality, people are hungry and cold. Rodolfo meets Mimi and hardship melts in a blaze of passion. Musetta sings and she is the most beautiful woman in the world. But the world is changing, and love won’t pay the rent. A new production of Puccini’s La bohème is always a big event. In 2011 Opera Australia is thrilled to present a bold reworking of Puccini’s romance from director Gale Edwards and starring Takesha Meshé Kizart as Mimi. La bohème is a young person’s opera, about falling in love, and losing the love of your life. Get ready to have your heart stolen by some of the finest young singers in Australia and beyond." [Source]

Also a warning to Australian audiences: there will be partial nudity in Act 2! Full cast listing after the jump.

Conductor Shao-Chia Lü (until Aug 9)/Brian Castles-Onion
Director Gale Edwards
Set Designer Brian Thomson
Costume Designer Julie Lynch
Lighting Designer John Rayment

Mimi Takesha Meshé Kizart (until 9 Aug)/Antoinette Halloran (until 17 Sept)/Hyeseoung Kwon
Rodolfo Ji-Min Park (until 28 Jul)/Diego Torre (until 14 Oct)/Martin Buckingham
Musetta Taryn Fiebig (until 17 Sept)/Jacqueline Mabardi
Marcello José Carbó (until 9 Aug)/Andrew Jones (until 17 Sept)/Andrew Moran
Colline David Parkin/Richard Anderson (12 Aug - 17 Sept only)
Schaunard Shane Lowrencev
Bentoit John Bolton Wood (until 9 Aug)/Clifford Plumpton
Alcindoro Adrian Tamburini