Skip to main content

Main navigation

A couple is dancing on the stage.

La Bohème

12 January - 11 March 2023

On a freezing Christmas Eve, love sparks. Two hands meet in the dark and four friends’ lives change forever in this operatic favourite.

Experience the romance of the original bohemian love story

When Mimì meets Rodolfo, it’s love at first touch. They head out to bustling Café Momus, where the feisty Musetta and Marcello rekindle their relationship. But even the deepest love can’t warm a freezing winter. The Bohemians have some growing up to do.

Some emotions are too big for words alone, and for that, we have music. La Bohème exposes your soul to the feelings that only music can express. The music soars with the ecstasy of love, crackles with the pain of jealousy and cries with the agony of loss.

This touching tale is set among the fishnets and fairy lights of 1930s Berlin.

Stellar sopranos Karah Son, Danita Weatherstone and Rebecca Gulinello sing the role of Mimì. Iván Ayón Rivas and Atalla Ayan sing as the poet, Rodolfo. Julie Lea Goodwin and Esther Song sing the iconically blonde Musetta, while Haotian Qi croons as her Marcello. Michelangelo Mazza and Tahu Matheson conduct.

Presented by Opera Australia

Trailer

Artist Information

CREATIVE TEAM
Conductor Michelangelo Mazza (Jan 12-Feb 8), Tahu Matheson (Feb 11-Mar 11)
Director Gale Edwards
Revival Director Shaun Rennie
Set Designer Brian Thomson
Costume Designer Julie Lynch
Lighting Designer John Rayment

CAST
Mimì 
Karah Son (Jan 12-Feb 8), Danita Weatherstone (Feb 11–25), Rebecca Gulinello (Mar)
Rodolfo Iván Ayón Rivas (Jan 12-Feb 8), Atalla Ayan (Feb 11-Mar 11)
Musetta Julie Lea Goodwin (Jan 12-Feb 8), Esther Song (Feb 11-Mar 11)
Marcello Haotian Qi
Schaunard Alexander Sefton (Jan 12-Feb 8), Shane Lowrencev (Feb 11-Mar 11)
Colline Richard Anderson
Benoit/Alcindoro Andrew Moran
Officer Clifford Plumpton
Sergeant Malcolm Ede
Parpignol Benjamin Rasheed

Opera Australia Chorus
Opera Australia Children’s Chorus
Opera Australia Orchestra

Other information

You may also like

A white man with grey hair in a suit stands looking at a male dancer knelt on the floor. The dancer wears a harness and is dancing in water.
14 - 16 Jun 2024 Opera

Watershed: The Death of Dr Duncan

A dazzling new operatic work by some of Australia’s most acclaimed creative talents, bringing a real-life tragedy, and eventual triumph, to the stage.

A shirtless man swimming underwater in a pool wearing a cloth skirt has his face looking up towards the sky,
11 Jun - 13 Jul 2024 Dance

Horizon

Experience the resilience of two of the world’s great First Nations in Bangarra Dance Theatre’s first mainstage cross-cultural collaboration.

A woman with dark hair in a red dress has her hand around the neck of a man with brown hair in a white shirt with his back to the camera.
10 - 27 Apr 2024 Dance

Carmen

Johan Inger’s Carmen is a captivating vision that blends athleticism and passion, reimagining Bizet’s opera through dance, unveiling a seductive tale of love and tragedy.

Checking availability