This Sunday, grab a picnic blanket and some friends and make the day one of cultural enlightenment. Watch a free showing of the classic opera La Bohème on the National Mall in Washington, or stop by downtown Silver Spring’s AFI Silver Theatre, where the opera will be broadcast through satellite simulcast at 2 p.m.
“The simulcast involves six cameras set up in the theater to capture the opera,” said Steve Blair, Washington National Opera’s director of marketing and audience services. “We hope that this might be one of – if not the – largest single audience for an opera performance in the United States.”
The simulcast shows were first introduced three years ago, after WNO’s general director, Plácido Domingo, and the Board of Trustees were looking for a new, innovative way to reach a wider range of audience members. Since then, the National Opera has broadcasted George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess and Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly to the National Mall.
Also by Puccini, La Boh̬me could give the WNO a larger audience because of its popularity Рin fact, La Boh̬me is perhaps one of the most well known operas to date. Set to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, the play follows the lives of bohemians struggling to stay afloat on the streets of Paris. The two protagonists, Rodolfo and Mimi, engage in their own struggles as they fall in love and yet must ultimately face death.
Never heard of this opera before? The 2005 movie, Rent, was based off of it; the song “Mi chiamano Mimi” was used in the cult film The Boondock Saints; and the song “O soave fanciulla” was featured in an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
“[La Bohème] is one of the most sampled operas for movies, television and commercial scores,” Blair said.
WNO’s version of La Bohème, however, will differ slightly from Puccini’s 111-year-old version.
“Our production is a contemporary one that is set in present day,” Blair said. “The bohemians, rather than struggling to feed themselves, are starved for a greater connection to society and an understanding of their role in the world around them.”
Other differences include Rodolfo’s profession – the protagonist will be a writer and digital/video photographer in this adaptation – and a romantic subplot between two smaller characters, Rodolfo’s friend, Marcello, and the temptress, Musetta. Along with a contemporary plot, La Bohème will also feature a younger cast, Blair said.
The modern twist and cast members are meant to draw in a more youthful audience, Blair said, because after conducting a number of focus groups, the WNO discovered most opera fans are drawn into the genre at a young age.
To cater to this demographic, this year La Bohème will also be broadcast to 31 universities and high schools across the nation. Though this university is not included on that list, students can still watch the performance in Washington or Silver Spring.
The combination of a century-old opera with new technological advances will offer audiences a unique experience, Blair said. And hopefully, La Bohème will function as a stepping-stone for younger audiences into the world of opera, he added.
“If we can help facilitate that relationship through a simulcast, then perhaps we become the mentor and will touch the hearts and minds of young people,” Blair said. “In years to come, we hope they say, ‘I remember my first opera was a simulcast of La Bohème.'”
dnhan@umd.edu
