La Boheme, 2002 Bway revival

[SallyBrown]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 6:41pm

I know not many people liked this..at least from who I've talked to..but I'm obsessed with the CD. Anyone else?

Updated On: 8/23/05 at 06:41 PM

[broadwaystar2b]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 6:43pm

I loved this production
I had David Miller and Ekaterina as my Rodolpho and Mimi and the whole cast was just fantastic

[Barihunk]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 7:02pm

Take heart Sally ... La Boheme is the most often performed opera in the world. Chances are many people beyond yourself love it just as much (me included). If you love the CD, take a chance and see a performance of it at any opera company this coming season... while it may not look the same as the Broadway production, chances are it will sound just as glorious.

[TBone]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 7:13pm

I'm with Broadwaystar2b - I absolutely loved the production as well. I saw Wei Huang and Janinah Burnett as Mimi, and as wonderful as I thought she was (I know others didn't care for her at all), I thought Wei was FANTASTIC.

[Plum]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 7:38pm

Well, I liked the production when I saw it. I remember it wasn't very full, though; we got to move down a lot in Act II.

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 8:14pm

Please use the word revival, not remake. Because a revival is a new tihnking of something, remake is like frame to frame.

[Born2cthelightsofbway]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 8:27pm

Hey, I saw the La Boheme in 2002 and to be honest, I thought it was very dissapointing, the singing was very weak, considering that it is opera, I was not impressed. I have seen it 3 times at the Met and it is always fantastic. If you live in NY and are interested in seeing a really great production of Hoheme visit dicapo.com, the theatre is the Dicapo Opera Theatre and has been written up by the Times, the Post, Newsday, Opera News, and other publications. Its starting in October, I am going to be in the childrens chorus, we are also touring. Its a great production, anyone come see us! But, Boheme is 2002 was really beautiful to look at.

[bwaybabe85]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 8:39pm

I loved La Boheme on Broadway. I ended up seeing it seven times, and I miss it terribly now. It was an incredibly beautiful production.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 10:13pm

This show was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. I actually saw it 7 times in San Francisco (pre-B'way) and 4 times in Los Angeles (post-B'way).

And now the playbills with David Miller can go for megabucks on eBay to all the Il Divo girlies. Rather mockable, I say.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 10:41pm

where'd it play and did it tour? would u call it a success or flop?

[gymman]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 10:43pm

What do you mean by "success" or "flop"? How are you defining these terms? It had three casts, so "touring" was not exactly the issue.
Updated On: 8/22/05 at 10:43 PM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/22/05 at 11:52pm

RippedMan, you could try reading the post just above yours (which happens to be mine). I did include two specific cities in there, and hey, the subject header of this very thread mentions Broadway...

[SallyBrown]

Posted: 8/23/05 at 12:26am

Barihunk- I have many versions of La Boheme on CD and have always loved it..unfortuneatley I have yet to see an actual production...


For some reason I was always informed that La Boheme did not have any success on Broadway whatsoever.... I'm so confused now. But I'll trust you lot more than my past contacts..

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 8/23/05 at 12:49am

Does anyone know how similar this was to Baz Luhrmann's Australian Opera production? I watched a DVD of it a few months ago and thought it was pretty good.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/23/05 at 12:52am

It's very similar. There used to be a list over at the B'way Bohème message board, but for some reason Conforums appears to have deleted the board.

The garret set used on Broadway was (I believe) the exact same one used in Australia.

The Act II set was pretty much the same, only more detailed and brighter on Broadway.

The set that changed the most was the one in Act III -- it was more detailed and less stylized on Broadway and the stairs were different (but I can't remember how).

[SallyBrown]

Posted: 8/23/05 at 12:54am

BAH must have been an amazing show...anyone know why it closed?

[Dollypop]

Posted: 8/23/05 at 2:41am

The Broadway version was poorly directed. Anyone who knew anything about opera knew that the singers in the Broadway version were steller, but there was a far more satisfying version on stage at the Met.

Really, the Broadway production made act three look like it was set in Auschwitz, where the Met's production turns that act into one of the most lyrical and lovely experiences on stage.

[SallyBrown]

Posted: 8/23/05 at 12:14pm

Maybe that's why...everyone I've talked to seems to love the opera more than the Bway revival...

[Barihunk]

Posted: 8/23/05 at 12:37pm

Sally

The Broadway production of Boheme failed simply because opera is a very hard sell. The production opened to critical raves and business was booming for the first few months. However, once the NYC theatre/opera lovers had seen it, the show had trouble finding an audience. As Dollypop mentioned, NYers had the opportunity that spring two witness 3 different incarnations of Boheme - one at the Met, one at New York City Opera, the Broadway Boheme. The fact that the Broadway version had attractive young singers and was directed in cinematic style by Baz Luhrmann did not help to bring in business. I lasted 6 months and closed shortly after the Tony Awards where it won Sets and Lighting and received a special Tony for Excellence in the Theatre for its ensemble. It did not tour but a production opened in LA the following year. All in all it was a failure, but a decidedly noble one.

[freeadmission]

Posted: 8/23/05 at 12:43pm

I can't hear of La Boheme without thinking of the movie Moonstruck.

"That was so awful."
"Awful?"
"Beautiful... sad. She died!"
"Yes."
"I was surprised... You know, I didn't really think she was gonna die. I knew she was sick.'
"She had TB."
"I know! I mean, she was coughing her brains out, and still she had to keep singing!"

*giggles*

God, I love that movie.

Updated On: 8/23/05 at 12:43 PM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/23/05 at 1:55pm

That, and it really didn't help that Baz Luhrmann wanted such a HUGE theatre. If he'd stuck with something the size of the Curran (which was where it played here), he might've been okay, at least for a little longer.

[Love4Cheno]

Posted: 8/23/05 at 1:56pm

I LOVED this production.

It was just so sumptuous and gorgeous to look at, not to mention ravishing to listen to.

[WickedOne2]

Posted: 8/23/05 at 1:59pm

I am not obsessed, but loved La Boheme. It was so beautiful. I love the fact that Baz changed the time period. The sets were gorgeous and the cast was so talented.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/23/05 at 5:54pm

This seems like a good a time as any...

While David Miller (Rodolfo) is ruining various power ballads, Ben>https://www.benjaminjaydavis.com">Ben Davis (Marcello) will be playing Papageno in Kenneth Branagh's new film of The Magic Flute.

Eugen Brancoveanu (Marcello) has gone back to dropping the last "e" from his name and is singing in "Basically British 4" in San Francisco next month.

P.S. Why does regular HTML code not work here?
Basically British

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 8/23/05 at 5:57pm

I loved this production. Jesus Garcia and Lisa Hopkins were my personal favorite Rudolfo and Mimi (I saw all three combinations).

The production received mostly positive notices and many thought it would become a hit, but shortly after the post-review rush, sales tapered off. Plus, the Broadway Theatre is a HUGE theatre and hard to fill.