La bohème as escapist epic at LA Opera

Janai Brugger (Mimì) and Oreste Cosimo (Rodolfo)

Gihoon Kim (Marcello)

Rod Gilfry (Alcindoro) and Erica Petrocelli (Musetta)

By Néstor Castiglione, 24 November 2025

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Reviewed at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles on 22 November 2025

Puccini, La bohème

LA Opera

Lina González-Granados, Conductor

Herbert Ross, Director

Gerard Howland, Set Designer

Peter J. Hall, Costume Designer

Pablo Santiago, Lighting Designer

LA Opera Orchestra

LA Opera Chorus

Jeannique Prospere, Costume Designer

Brenna Corner, Revival Director

Oreste Cosimo, Rodolfo

Janai Brugger, Mimì

Gihoon Kim, Marcello

Erica Petrocelli, Musetta

Emmett O'Hanlon, Schaunard

William Guanbo Su, Colline

Rod Gilfry, Benoît, Alcindoro

Jeremy Frank, Choirmaster / chorus director

LA Opera’s Rigoletto: a feast for the ears – and the mind

Matthew Richard Martinez, 31st May

Quinn Kelsey shines as Verdi’s court jester as Tomer Zvulun's production opens in Los Angeles.

****1

Mozart meets Gatsby in LA Opera’s new Così fan tutte

Laurence Vittes, 8th March

Michael Cavanagh's sleek new production, designed by Erhard Rom and conducted by James Conlon, transforms the 18th-century opera into a Broadway musical, score by Mozart.

****1

Compelling Turandot as LA Opera imports Hockney designs

Matthew Richard Martinez, 18th May

Angela Meade and Russell Thomas provide the vocal fireworks in LA Opera's staging of David Hockney's beloved production designs.

***11

Book of Mountains and Seas reaches the American Pacific

Katherine Syer, 10th April

Time is suspended in Huang Ruo and Basil Twist's meditative, 80-minute stagework, now receiving its West Coast premiere.

****1

LA Opera’s new Traviata lacks fizz

Matthew Richard Martinez, 6th April

Shawna Lucey's production from San Francisco Opera misses the mark as it premieres to a packed Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

*1111

Frank's musical mural to Frida and Diego opens at LA Opera

Laurence Vittes, 18th November

Lorena Maza's vibrant production of Gabriela Lena Frank's 2021 opera about Frida Kahlo and her relationship with Diego Rivera reaches Los Angeles.

****1

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Néstor Castiglione

Néstor Castiglione is a freelance music critic, program note annotator, translator, and lecturer born and raised in Los Angeles. Aside from classical music, he also writes and lectures on the culture and popular music of early Shōwa Japan (1925 – 1945). His website is Echorrhea and you can also follow him on Instagram @echorrhea.