I have a new perspective on Puccini’s opera since attending La Boheme On Tap last night at the Redwood Theatre, although watching Moonstruck last week while interviewing a couple of the participants highlighted the contrast.

Yes Mimi lives in poverty, dying surrounded by her impoverished friends, a sad ending to be sure.

But I’m not so different from Ronnie (Nicholas Cage). He took Loretta(Cher) to see the opera at the Met, having previously watched this funny romantic story with the tragic conclusion many times, while it was her first time seeing the story. Impoverished as the bohemians may be, it’s a bit of escapism for those of us who actually have enough money to go to the opera. The characters in boheme may be poor but the ones in Moonstruck are mostly wealthy, boheme a lovely romance to entertain & help teach some misguided folk (Loretta & Ronnie are both messed up when the film opens) how to properly open their hearts to love.

However I may have experienced boheme in the past, I watched through a new lens last night, thanks to Ryan Hofman the co-producer of La Boheme On Tap, who brought in Daily Bread Food Bank for a fundraising auction, a natural partnership given the storyline of boheme.

I heard that they raised enough for over 800 meals.

The audience included members of Toronto’s opera community. I was too busy talking and buying raffle tickets (and I even won a prize) to photograph everyone. I ran into Kyle Derek McDonald whose operatic adaptation of Richard the Lionheart’s adventures will be presented in concert in Ottawa in November.

I talked to Opera in Concert / SOLT / Toronto Operetta Theatre artistic director Guillermo Silva-Marin and Henry Ingram. Henry spoke to me about my Toronto Symphony concert review I posted yesterday, mentioning that he had heard another less enthusiastic opinion of Marsalis’s Concerto for Orchestra. I suggested he listen to the piece, using the YouTube performance of the new work that’s in my review.

I first met Henry in 1970 when he was known as Barney rather than Henry, singing Tom Rakewell in a Rake’s Progress production with my brother Peter Barcza singing Nick Shadow, when I hazarded playing some of that score at home.

I was sitting beside Ann Cooper Gay, who was Ann Truelove in that 1970 Rake’s Progress. It was very cool to see Henry aka Barney chat with Ann his Truelove of more than a half century ago.

Ann has a remarkable history, as a music teacher, as an organist (she played at my 1st wedding), as the Artistic Director of the CCOC, mentoring many young singers. Ann seems to know everyone in Toronto and had a great time chatting with members of the audience.

I heard a great story from Ann a few days ago, when we chatted about Holly Chaplin, who played Mimi tonight in la Boheme.

Ann told me the story of hearing a small child singing Non so piu, Cherubino’s Act 1 aria from Marriage of Figaro. I’m including the video because it’s my favourite aria from this opera and to give you some idea of why it might be remarkable to hear a little child singing this.

Now imagine you’re hearing this sung by a little child. Sung correctly. And discovering that the child was only 8 years old.

That child was Holly Chaplin.

She’s all grown up now, singing roles in operas like boheme or an upcoming Lucia di Lammermoor she will be singing in a few months time.

I joked with her that she’s singing two different Lucias, if we recall that as Mimi tells us in her aria:
“Mi chiamano Mimì ma il mio nome è Lucia.” (they call me Mimi but my name is Lucia).

It was great to see Ann & Holly talking & reminiscing after the show, alongside Brahm Goldhamer, the music director & pianist last night.

La Boheme On Tap gave us what we came for, an escape from a troubled world into romance, comedy & a realm of great beauty. Holly was Mimi. Joel Ricci was our poet Rodolfo, Alex Hajek Marcello the painter, Kathryn Rose Johnston the flirtatious Musetta, Dylan Wright the philosopher Colline, Andrew Tees Benoit the landlord & later Alcindoro the ATM for the feast in Act II. And our producer Ryan Hofman also sang Schaunard the musician. While there was no chorus, the story was told clearly with the help of projected titles. I couldn’t begin to count how many times I’ve seen this indestructible opera, last night with a few unique moments and the unavoidable tears at the end. I understand that they had only a few rehearsals this past week, making their successful performance something of a miracle, perhaps testimony to the skills of Brahm their music director. I understand he’s off to Ottawa today for another gig.

This is the first time an opera has been presented at the Redwood Theatre. The acoustic is very friendly, the voices heard clearly without too much reverberation. I think it’s an ideal space in many ways. Some of us were drinking beer or wine. I suspect the ways to properly exploit the space are still to be discovered. I say that enviously, to be honest, thinking it will be great fun for the Opera Revue team to explore the possibilities of different configurations & set ups.

Congratulations to Ryan & the team for a superb performance that also successfully raised funds for the Daily Bread Food Bank. If you’re interested in making any contributions or as a volunteer, here’s the link.