THEATER

La Boheme (Lowell House Opera)

by Puccini in the Lowell House Dining Hall

This year's Lowell House Opera production of "La Boheme"--Puccini's only opera to deal with the difficult but popular subjects of love and infectious disease--provides an accessible introduction to Puccini's inimitable style for the operatically intrigued. For the operatically obsessed, confident and powerful vocal performances backed up by a fluid and attentive Rochestra amply compensate for a disappointing lack of on-stage dramatic energy.

"La Boheme" is set in the Quartier Latin of nineteenth-century Paris. Mimi, a sweet soul doomed to an untimely death, falls in love at first sight with her neighbor Rodolfo, member of a lovable band of starving artists. Their love affair, made torrid by Rodolfo's jealousy, is mirrored by a no less tumultuous relationship between Marcello the painter and the fiercely independent Musetta.

Leads Laurie Ann McGowan (who will alternate performances with Alexis Zeiff Martin) as Mimi and Frank Ragsdale as Rodolfo are warm if low-key lovers. Vocal prowess combined with comfortable English diction compensate for somewhat subdued interaction on both parts. (Those who saw "La Traviata" last year can't help but feel a pang of deja vu as McGowan lies dying of tuberculosis in the fourth act with Ragsdale clasping her palm.)

Rodolfo's painter cohort Marcello, played by Michael Drumheller, lacks personality and expressivity. It is small wonder that the saucy Musetta, played by Penny Rubinfield, proves too much for him in the third act. Rubinfield is a fiesty flirt who uses the low dramatic energy around her to her advantage; she draws every eye to her, both on stage and off, with admirable seconda donna tactics. The conviction and simplicity of Josh Benaim's cameo "coat aria" in the fourth act place the aria closer to Puccini's original intentions than many a bass who overplay the fact that they are singing to a coat and end up looking, well, goofy.

The orchestra, under the direction of Sarah Hicks's no-nonsense baton, weaves an intricate textural web that gives expressive if not always driving support to the singers. The balance between pit and stage in particular, combined with good diction on the part of the cast, make for clear and powerful presentation. Set and costumes both attest to the decisive victory of ingenuity over budget, creating the necessary verisimilitude. The exception to this is Benaim's particularly attention-getting wig that is as expressive as he.

Stage director Martin Lebwohl's creative additions to the English translation are slightly jarring given the subtle staging and general mood of the production. But they come closer to creating the boisterous and youthful atmosphere that Puccini intended--particularly in the second act--than other moments in the evening where enthusiasm seems low. One is left with the impression that the students at Cafe‚ Momus could be more boisterous, the lovers more tender (or more fiery, in the case of Marcello and Musetta), the four artists more convivial.

Many consider "La Boheme" to be Puccini's best score, as well as the embodiment of verismo, dramatic ideals in which real people lead real lives that just happen to be tragic. The simplicity of this type of tragedy, as well as the idealistic view of youth and love, which appealed to late nineteenth-century audiences still appeals to modern ones. Aside from this opera, and a handful of others, only in recent years has the Lowell House Opera featured Italian works. keeping with this spirit of testing Mediter-ranean waters, this year's "La Boheme" courageously unleashes the amore in all of us.