ON STAGE
What: La boh猫me
When: Feb. 15, 17, 23, 8 p.m.; Feb. 21, 7 p.m.; Feb. 25, 2:30 p.m.
Where: Royal Theatre, 805 Broughton St.
Tickets: $25-$140 through the Royal McPherson box office (250-386-6121) or online at rmts.bc.ca
Note: Pre-performance lectures take place in the theatre lobby one hour prior to each show
A classic opera does not necessarily have to be handled with a soft touch. Opera audiences have come a long way over the years and radical reinvention is not unheard of for a modern production.
However, some attention must be paid to the source material. And when that involves Giacomo Puccini鈥檚 La boh猫me, perhaps the best-loved opera in history, it is imperative to proceed with caution.
Belgian-based director Maria Lamont, who is at the helm of Pacific Opera Victoria鈥檚 production of La boh猫me, which opens at the Royal Theatre tonight, appears to have the perfect approach 鈥� one that pushes the form forward, but with respect for the past.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 call myself a traditionalist 鈥� I call myself a bit of a classicist,鈥� Lamont said.
鈥淚 like storytelling. I鈥檓 not particularly looking to shock or provoke people, but I do want to find new ways of telling these classic stories.鈥�
Puccini鈥檚 opera about two Parisian couples living as self-styled bohemians has aged well, so little tinkering was needed, Lamont said. The Winnipeg native, who has spent long stretches of her career working alongside director (and noted Puccini specialist) Robert Carsen, has conditioned herself to be malleable, an important skill for stage directors.
Lamont has nothing but praise for her young leads in the POV production: soprano Lucia Cesaroni (Mimi), tenor Jason Slayden (Rodolfo), Sharleen Joynt (Musetta) and Brett Polegato (Marcello), with whom she came to some mutually beneficial decisions during rehearsals.
鈥淲e rehearsed the ending and it didn鈥檛 work at all [as] what I had planned, so we changed it,鈥� she said.
鈥淚f you have enough experience in theatre, you wait for the happy accidents. The happy accidents actually make things better. If you use that as an opportunity to find a new solution, to be creative, you can get something much better.鈥�
Perspective is everything when it comes to mounting a Puccini production, Lamont said.
His signature operas 鈥� including La boh猫me (written in 1896), Tosca (1900) and Madama Butterfly (1904) 鈥� have become famous to the point of near-saturation, so audiences do not want to sit through a staid retelling. In 2018, fans like their Puccini shaken, not stirred.
鈥淭hese operas . . . come with a lot of traditions,鈥� Lamont said.
鈥淪ociety鈥檚 values and sympathies change so much, so you need to look at those old stories with a new viewpoint. All the rules have been broken. Everything has been done.
鈥淭here has been so much experimenting in theatre over the last 50 or 60 years, it鈥檚 a new challenge to present the story in interesting and engaging ways. The tension you create with the audience, that鈥檚 my goal 鈥� to create that mystery between the stage and the public.鈥�
What Lamont loves about Puccini鈥檚 masterwork is his ability to capture young adulthood, where meaningful relationships and matters of the heart have a unique tone and context.
Had the characters come across each other years later, the ties that bind Mim矛 and Rodolfo, for example, would have taken on a different meaning. The specificity of its physical and emotional settings are the key to La boh猫me鈥檚 success.
Audiences members have felt the same lovelorn gravity at some point during their youth. They also have felt the violent sting of an untimely death, with which La boh猫me deals compassionately.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a story about young people,鈥� Lamont said. 鈥淔or the older members of the audience, they are trying to find those feelings again. For the younger people, they can identify with the experience. When I listen to it now, with a little more life experience, I think a lot about loss and death. This is a very moving and touching treatment of that.鈥�
In her role as director, Lamont chose to focus on universality, how the human condition of the late 1800s compares with that of today. She built her vision for the half-comedy, half-tragedy upon a strong musical base, which, for this production, will see conductor Giuseppe Pietraroia lead the Victoria Symphony, Pacific Opera Victoria Chorus and Victoria Children鈥檚 Choir.
鈥淚 had a very wonderful teacher who said it鈥檚 very difficult to write in opera: 鈥楶ass the potatoes.鈥� It鈥檚 not really about the beautiful, small details in life, it鈥檚 all about the grand themes. It can be very simple text, and when that is set by a genius, like Puccini, to an incredible melody, the payoff is the motherlode.鈥�
Lamont, who is joined on the creative team by designer Camellia Koo, lighting designer Kevin Lamotte and choreographer Jessica Hickman, feels immensely proud of what they have accomplished.
It鈥檚 challenging, but not overly so, she said. 鈥淎s long as you treat the main themes with a certain amount of respect, I don鈥檛 think the audience will hold it against you.
鈥淭he visual world is really important, too. If they are engrossed in the visual world, and the dynamic between performers, they鈥檒l go with you a long way.鈥�
