La Bohème at Sydney Opera House, Joan Sutherland Theatre

A painter, a musician, a philosopher and a poet are having a night on the town. Café Momus is too pricey for them —they've nothing to weigh down those moth-eaten pockets. But why worry? The landlord is sorted, the bar tab can wait. They're young and their lofty ideals will keep body and soul together.

And then there's love. Ah, love.

Nearly 120 years after Puccini wrote his smash-hit La Bohème, this story of first love still tops the list of most performed operas around the world.

Perhaps the tale of four friends living for their art reminds us of a person we weren't brave enough to become. Perhaps Puccini's talent for capturing emotion in music takes us back to the first time we felt love stir in our hearts.

Perhaps it's just that La Bohème is a story we understand. It's about friendship and falling in love.

It's about sacrifice and never giving up, even if it means parting with your lover — or your favourite coat.
Gale Edwards' glittering production provides a perfect setting for these utterly human emotions: in the bohemian streets of 1930s Berlin, in the colour and chaos of street fairs and burlesque bars, fairylights and fishnet stockings.

Authors

• David Spencer
• Giacomo Puccini
• Giuseppe Giacosa
• Henri Murger
• Luigi Illica

Tony Awards and Nominations for La Bohème