I never imagined myself watching an Opera in Italian for three hours but last Wednesday, I enjoyed every part of La Bohème. When I first heard about going to this Opera, I was anxious because I thought I would not be able to connect with it since it was set in 1850s Paris and in a language that I am not familiar with at all. But, Professor Eversley showed us “Rent”, a 1990s musical film version of the play set in New York. I also felt relived knowing that during La Bohème, there would be English subtitles in the little screens in front of us. However, I barely looked at the subtitles because I knew what was going on the whole time after watching Rent and reading the synopsis.
Certain parts were different in the play compared to the film. For example, in the film, Mimi chased after Rodolfo and flirted with him, whereas in the play the roles switched. In the play, Rodolfo and Mimi fell in love within like few moments after they were alone together in Rodolfo’s room/house. This seemed weird to me because in the 21st century that is very rare. But, in the 1850s, it was normal for such instances to occur or it may be the fact that we are afraid of commitments nowadays. On the other hand, the landlord in the play was easier to deceive. For example, in the film, they protest against the landlord, whereas, in the play they simply change the topic of paying rent to the Landlord cheating with his wife.
I admired the creativity behind the set design of the play. With every act, there was a different set design. It was amazing how detailed and aesthetic the set was. The backstage crew only had fifteen minutes to change the set and they did a great job with it. The third set design struck out to me the most where they used glittery snow to set the romantic moment between Rodolfo and Mimi. The orchestra also did an amazing job complementing the vibe in each scene. I was astonished how the orchestra shifted the romantic mood in the third act to the serious and sad mood in the last act.
During the break, we met an ITF from City College named Andres. Andres and I connected very quickly after learning that we graduated from the same high school. He majored in film studies from Wesleyan University and studied in Spain for a fellowship, similar to Tom Smith. Andres gave us a tour of the place. First, he showed us the two big murals which were like 60 feet in length( I couldn’t upload a picture of them since the photo exceeds the media requirement). Then, he took us to the balcony, which we mostly used to take some great pictures with amazing views.
I could tell this play required many hours of practice for the actors and the orchestra. I felt like I was part of the scene with every rhythm of the orchestra.
