Photos: LA BOHEME at Opera San Jose

San Jose Opera's production of La Bohème is currently being presented through December 1, 2024 at the California Theatre in San Jose.  Check out the production photos below!

The cast of La Boheme features tenor WooYoung Yoon as Rodolfo, recently seen as the prince Tamino in OSJ’s The Magic Flute. Making their company debuts are sopranos Kearstin Piper Brown and Mikayla Sager, alternating as Mimì. Baritone Kidon Choi, who made a vivid impression as Baron Scarpia in OSJ’s Tosca returns as Marcello. Inaugural Wadhwani Chair soprano Melissa Sondhi will play Musetta, and bass-baritone OSJ Artist-in-Residence Jesús Vincente Murillo will play Schaunard. Three Opera San José fan favorites, bass Younggwang Park, bass-baritone Philip Skinner, and tenor Eric Mellum, featured as Sarastro, Speaker, and First Priest in The Magic Flute, return in this production as Colline, Benoît/Alcindoro, and Parpignol.  

The chorus ensemble is comprised of Leonardo Capistrano, Carter Dougherty, Danielle Imai, Julia Johnson, Brennah Kemmerly, Michael Kim, Ilhee Lee, Kyounghee Lee, Michael Jesse Kuo, Pravesh Mehra, Fallon Nunes, Alexandra Olsson-Anderson, Nathan Savant, and Jessica Williams.  

The creative team for La Bohème is Opera San José Music Director Joseph Marcheso (Conductor), Opera San José Resident Stage Director Michelle Ainna Cuizon (Director),  Kim A. Tolman (Scenic Designer), Eric Watkins (Lighting Designer), Alina Bokovikova (Costume Designer), Y. Sharon Peng (Hair and Makeup Designer), and Johannes Löhner (Assistant Conductor and Chorus Master). 

Written by Giacomo Puccini, with a libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, and based on Henri Murger’s episodic novel “Scènes de la vie de bohème” (“Scenes of Bohemian Life”), La Bohème premiered at Teatro Regio in Turin, Italy, in 1896.  La Bohème features three back-to-back showstoppers in Act I alone—Rodolfo’s famous aria “Che gelida manina,” followed by Mimì’s “Mi chiamano Mimì,” and their duet “O soave fanciulla." Puccini's own life as a student in Milan influenced many aspects of La Bohème; some personal experiences, like pawning his coat to take out a young dancer, directly inspired moments in the libretto. The 1996 musical RENT is based on La Bohème with most of the characters and plot elements drawn from the opera.  

Photo Credit: David Allen

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