My La Boheme experience (part 2 of 3)

My friend Karen and I were a bit disappointed when realized that we arrived late for the rehearsals of La Boheme last Wednesday. Thanks to the ever-gracious and accommodating Direk Floy Quintos, we were invited to return last night to the nonstop technical dress rehearsal, where we got to catch the rest of the alternates. Though the performance began with a caveat that what we were about to see was just a TDR, the production was already smooth and ready to go. I knew this was something more people should see.

It was interesting that Karen had never gone to see a full opera before that evening, even calling herself an “opera virgin”. I told her of some the early pieces I saw, especially a modern English opera that just left me dumbfounded at the singers’ efforts in memorizing lines so atonal they left me with a headache. At least we were ensured of a totally melodic production— the genius Puccini assured us that.

Many say that La Boheme is the best opera for beginners or those not attuned to the nuances of an operatic performance like we were. They were not mistaken.

To begin with, this Philippine production was shown in its original Italian without supertitles. Though those unfamiliar with the plot may not understand the small details: Mimi’s muff and cold hands, the importance of Colline’s coat, the reasons why Mimi and Rodolfo separated in the first place. Even the delight of the language may escape us- we won’t have the pleasure of laughing at the puns or the witticism of characters.

And yet surprisingly, even without all these, the opera was as clear as it could be and left us completely satisfied. Even Karen, who was totally unfamiliar with the plot and knew only a little Italian got it.

Opera neophytes truly need not worry since the music and the actors carried the emotions so eloquently. The perfect illustration of this for me was the second act, when Musetta comes out with her elderly lover, Alcindoro. From her movements and the stress on certain lines, it was clear to us that she was just with Alcindoro for the money. As she sings her famous waltz, Quando me n’vo (a musical theme familiar especially to RENT fans), we see her flirtatiousness and her devious plan of sending Alcindoro away just to be with Marcello, her true love.

Filipinos who are fond of telenovelas and those Star Cinema romantic comedies will especially enjoy this production. Forget the image of the opera with Vikings, fair maidens, and dragons. Puccini was ahead of his time in creating an opera about the common folk: artists just like him who fall in love.

Puccini’s early audiences abhorred the production. It’s understandable in his time as who would want to go to the opera house to see starving artists duping the rich and dying from tuberculosis? His audience also probably wondered, “What’s up with the tragicomedy?” In one scene friends are playing around and partying, and in the next, couples are about to separate.

But Signor Puccini was a genius ahead of his time. Like the television networks nowadays, he understood that reality sells. La Boheme has gone on to become his most famous opera since. Indeed, like what Karen said in her review, “Poverty is timeless. So is love. So is lust. So is death.”

As with most current restagings of operas, this La Boheme has been adapted for the modern times. In the original staging, a group of friends live in a shabby Parisian garret. They are struggling, starving artists who can’t even pay the rent: Rodolfo the poet, Marcello the painter, Schaunard the musician, and Colline the philosopher. Rodolfo meets Mimi, a tuberculosis-stricken seamstress, and they fall in love. Musetta, Marcello’s ex, has taken on an older lover, but still lusts after Marcello. The simple love stories of these two couples unfold as the artists go through their uneventful lives. In the end, Mimi dies of the disease.

Baz Luhrmann’s 1990 (Australia) and 2002 (Broadway) restaging was set in 1957, a time he believed matched the economic background of 1840 Paris. With monochromatic and clean 50’s pictures as his visual pegs, he totally modernized the production, down to its translation, and won a Tony for Best Director of a Musical in 2002.

Director Floy Quintos does an equally noble attempt at modernizing the timeless opera. He sets it this time in modern-day Manila. The artists share a room in the slum area, albeit with a balcony reaching above the shanties and a view that resembles the Makati skyline. (The backdrop for all scenes is a video screen that pulls off its own tricks: moving clouds, house and building lights going on and off, fireworks. Really a great complement to the set.)

The famous Café Momus scene in the second act is transformed to a café in an open tiangge reminiscent of those originally in the Baywalk area. Even Puccini’s most complex scene is made accessible and clear in this new adaptation. Like in Luhrmann’s adaptation and the RENT film’s Tango Maureen, Musetta comes out in a seductive red dress amidst the chaotic and almost monochromatic crowd scene.

The third act, originally a scene at the Parisian tollgate, is now a rundown perya. We immediately feel that the gaiety has passed and the lovers have moved on to rough patches of their lives. Direk confesses that this is his favorite act: the music rich and haunting and the imagery rife with symbolism.

Here we see two couples. The first can’t stand each other but oozes with passion and physical attraction. The other pair has a true and deep love but is on the verge of separating due to a mix of fear and practicality. “It is the longest goodbye,” direk Floy says, and he pulls out all the stops to achieve the melodrama including what he can only describe as “the Lorna T. moment” (What this is exacty, you have to see for yourself.)

The death scene in the fourth act reverts back to the apartment. For this, direk Floy says that the audience will just need an extra helping of suspension of disbelief. Indeed, how can a “healthy” seamstress living in the Metro Manila die from the cold and Tuberculosis in these times? Karen and I were joking that Mimi didn’t take the medication given by her barangay health center, so it was her fault. Kidding aside, the scene was executed well and wasn’t in any way laughable.

We feel for Rodolfo as he realizes he has lost his true love. He climbs up their loft and begins to see Mimi’s face in the billboards of Manila.

We were fortunate to catch all the alternates in the two rehearsal dates that we watched. These young singers should be lauded for their commitment and excellence in their craft. Even Direk Floy is amazed at their talent and humility. These actors and actresses work for four months and are completely satisfied even just to perform it once at the CCP— that’s dedication.

Seattle Opera based Gary del Rosario , Juan Alberto Gaerlan, and Dondi Ong alternate as Rodolfo. Sopranos Jennifer Uy and Maribel Miguel make their debut as Mimì. Sopranos Ana Feleo and Elaine Lee play Musetta. Baritones Lawrence Jatayna and Jesus Baang plays Marcello, Joseleo Logdat and John Campos plays Colline and Schaunard respectively.

Congratulations in advance to everyone involved in the production.

Do watch La Boheme at the CCP this weekend: October 3-4 at 8pm and October 5 at 3pm. You won’t regret it.


NEXT: I’ll update this post with more pics and post a third entry- The La Boheme and RENT Connection (More pictures and clips!!!)