By Michelle Arevalo, Berks Opera Company
Photo courtesy of Manos Gkikas on Unsplash
Long before a rock musical asked how to measure a year, a 19th-century masterpiece set the standard for youthful passion and tragic heartbreak. Berks Opera Company brings that timeless story into the 21st century with a modern production of “La Bohème” set in Reading, PA. The show opens Aug. 15 at the Miller Center for the Arts, launching a rare, back-to-back theatrical alignment just one week before Reading Civic Theatre offers the famous 1996 Broadway adaptation, “Rent.”
This calendar coincidence is entirely unplanned, as Berks Opera Company conceptualized its vision before learning of the neighboring theater group’s schedule. In an ironic twist, this production actually mirrors the contemporary timeline of its rock counterpart by lifting the 19th-century characters out of historic Paris and placing them directly into a modern local cityscape.
“We did not plan this,” smiled Tamara Black, Artistic Director of Berks Opera Company, reflecting on the back-to-back scheduling. “I think our lighting designer mentioned it just a few weeks ago.”
The company’s updated staging trades the Latin Quarter and the River Seine for familiar local backdrops, moving the characters’ tragic journey near Penn Street, the Schuylkill River, and beneath the shadow of the Pagoda.
“Our amazing photographer, John Pankratz, is taking photos of Reading which will be projected onto the sets. We will also see scenes from Mike’s Tavern, a beloved Reading location,” said Black.
While the opera’s setting has shifted in time and place, the emotional core of “La Bohème” remains untouched. The production will be performed exactly as Puccini intended musically, featuring the original, soaring Italian score with English supertitles projected for the audience. By blending world-class operatic vocals with a local visual setting, Berks Opera Company bridges the gap between grand tradition and community storytelling.
“The storyline doesn’t change at all. We’ve only changed the physical location — instead of 1830s Paris, the skyline is current-day Reading so the show will look a bit more modern,” Black said. “But the beauty of this show is that the challenges faced in ‘La Bohème’ — love and loss, financial struggles, food scarcity, affordable healthcare, surviving the gig economy, and the financial impact of choosing artistic freedom over security — transcend time or place. We felt that setting it in modern-day Reading serves as a powerful reminder of how deeply connected we all remain through the shared raw realities of the human experience.”
The impressive cast features soprano Suzannah Waddington as the doomed seamstress, Mimì, alongside local favorite Fred Schlick as Mimì’s lover, Rodolfo. The tale’s spitfire Musetta is portrayed by Mary Fetterman with Tom Sitzler as passionate painter Marcello and John TK Scherch, morning announcer for Philadelphia-based classical and jazz radio station WRTI, as the intellectual Colline.
Supported by a premier ensemble, the production is directed by Joel Gori and fully staged with a live orchestra under the baton of conductor Brent Chancellor.
“What I love about this opera is that it tells the universal story about youthful aspirations. Written in 1895 and originally set in Paris in 1830, it shows that many decades later there is scarcely any difference in the hopefulness and dreams of one’s youth,” said Gori.
“Freedom, optimism, and romance are part of the process individuals experience to understand and accept the realities of life; these are the stepping-stones we often slip off as we face the world. For older eyes, it reminds us of that time when we felt life was our oyster. When we felt unencumbered to sustain our desires. Even the struggles became romanticized jubilance … until they weren’t,” explained the show’s director.
The upcoming production marks Berks County’s first professional staging of a classic opera in nearly 10 years.
“One of the things I love most about conducting ‘La Bohème’ is how deeply human it is. Puccini’s music has an incredible ability to make us laugh, break our hearts, and remind us of the friendships and love that shape our lives,” said Maestro Chancellor. “As a conductor, it’s a privilege to bring this score to life alongside such talented singers and musicians and discover new emotional depth in every rehearsal. I hope our audiences leave feeling moved by the beauty of the music and connected to these timeless characters, because their story is, in many ways, our own.”
Because its narrative directly inspired the creation of “Rent,” the scheduling alignment offers a rare look at the exact evolution of the classic story from 19th-century opera to 20th-century rock musical and 21st-century Reading.
“The coincidence of the two companies doing the two shows exactly a week apart is an interesting one and certainly was not planned. I had never realized, until I spoke to Tammy after discovering this coincidence, the exact parallels between Jonathan Larson’s musical and Puccini’s opera,” said Jeanette DeAngelo, President of the Reading Civic Theater Board of Trustees. “The narratives and characters are in parallel; in fact, my research found every ‘Rent’ character to be a one-to-one modernization of their ‘La Bohème’ counterpart, but the settings, music, and endings set the two works apart.”
While the timing of the two productions is serendipitous, it casts contemporary cityscapes (and Reading in particular) as the backdrop for enduring tales of romance. Theatergoers can see the opera on Aug. 15, and follow it up with the musical on Aug. 21.
“I’m thrilled to bring ‘La Bohème’ to the city, reimagined in a way that feels immediate, relevant, and deeply human,” said Black. “At its core, this is a story of young artists navigating love, ambition, friendship, and uncertainty. More than a century later, it’s still a story we can see ourselves in.”
Fans of all music genres, generations, and romance should get tickets now. Adult tickets are available for $20.00 to $40.00, and admission for children and students is free.
You Might Also Like
830 WEEU Launches Berks County Theater Awards
