This is our review of La Boheme at Liverpool‘s Empire Theatre!
Synopsis Of La Boheme
Directed by Ellen Kent, this production is traditionally staged and features beautiful sets and costumes. It features the Ukranian Opera and Ballet Theatre, Kyiv. The show tells the story of seamstress Mimi and struggling writer Rodolfo. Mimi and Rodolfo are drawn together but jealousy, poverty, and sickness threaten their relationship.
Set in Paris, the city of love, La Bohème tells of the couple’s relationship and the hardship that endures. Indeed, all is not what it seems as true love blossoms. And there is an ongoing air of anticipation for the tragedy that is to come.
Analysis Of La Boheme
On a chilly evening, the Empire Theatre was buzzing and there was a large, expectant audience. The production included featured Hovhannes Andreasyan as Rodolfo, Elena Dee as Mimi, Iurie Gisca as Marcello, Valeriu Cojancaru as Colline, Vitalii Cebotan as Schaunard, Eugeniu Ganea as Benoit/Alcindoro, Ruslan Pacatovici as Death/Parpingnol, Viktoria Melnyk as Musetta (my personal favourite).
The orchestra was conducted by Vasyl Vasylenko and the music was just beautiful. There were many comedic moments that the audience appreciated and it was lovely to see the children involved who were from the Liverpool Stagecoach School (along with Frankie the dog!). Elsewhere, I sometimes found the vocalists slightly hard to hear, particularly when facing away from the audience. But it didn’t detract from the performance.
Summary Of La Boheme
It was a lovely show, a very entertaining production. I enjoyed the orchestra a great deal, and the settings were authentic. Meanwhile, there were moments of real emotion, and the subtitles above the stage were a nice touch. On the whole, then, this was a very captivating show.
