A Holiday Concert Presentation

December 5 at 7:00 pm
Running Time: 2h30
Tickets start at $25

Universal Preservation Hall

La bohème

Puccini

To kick off a year-long celebration of Opera Saratoga/Lake George Opera Festival’s 65th anniversary, Opera Saratoga announces the first holiday opera in the company’s history. Opera Saratoga will produce a special 80-minute concert version of Giacomo Puccini’s La bohème at Universal Preservation Hall on December 5 at 7pm featuring emerging opera stars from the Juilliard School and beyond, in collaboration with the Skidmore chorus and members of Excelsior Vocal ensemble. The concert will be music directed and accompanied on piano by Adam Nielsen (The Juilliard School, Metropolitan Opera) and directed by Mary Birnbaum, Opera Saratoga’s General and Artistic Director. The Skidmore Chorus will be conducted by Floydd Ricketts and include members of the Excelsior Vocal Ensemble (Artistic Director Andrew Burger).  

“We chose La Bohème to honor the heritage of Opera Saratoga/Lake George Opera Festival, which began its first season 65 years ago with this beloved Puccini classic,” said director Mary Birnbaum. “It’s a magical introduction to opera—Puccini’s story of young artists in love is heartfelt and accessible, especially for first-time operagoers. The opera begins on Christmas Eve and later moves to the festive streets of Paris, making it the perfect way to celebrate the holidays with our community.”

Birnbaum adds, “We hope to welcome both adults and children who have never experienced opera before and those who are seasoned opera lovers—and to dazzle them with young artists performing some of the most beautiful music in the operatic repertoire.”

This concert is part of an amplified year-round presence of Saratoga's hometown opera, which historically has a world-renowned summer festival season in May/June. Following an end-of-summer party with a performance by Nielsen and Ariadne Greif, who sang Song to the Moon from Rusalka, Marine from Les illuminations and Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid. Opera Saratoga will next throw a musical pop-up and cocktail party from 4 to 6 p.m. at the new Standard Fare on September 11. Christine Taylor Price, star of last season's She Loves Me, will sing opera and Broadway standards, and there will be bites and signature cocktails from Phila Street's newest hotspot, which is currently fully committed through most of September.

Rating: PG

{Insert any warnings about strobing, haze, etc}

  • Act One

    Rush hour on Friday at a train station in Paris in 1866. Bachelors Raoul de Gardefeu and Bobinet wait for their respective lovers, but when the diva Metella arrives, appearing to have forgotten who each man is, Bob and Garde decide to team up to pursue women in their own social strata, re-peopling the drawing rooms of the Faubourg St. Germain. Serendipitously, they run into Joseph, Garde’s former valet, who is now moonlighting as a tour guide, awaiting a Swedish Baron and Baroness to escort them to their hotel. Garde seizes the opportunity to meet a Swedish Baroness and bribes Joseph to trade places with him. The Baron and Baronness of Gondremarck arrive, eager to take advantage of all Paris has to offer. They follow Garde to “The Grand Hotel”. In the melée, other tourists disembark at the City of Lights, including an energetic New York politico who is in town just for the weekend! 

    Act Two

    Meanwhile, at Gardefeu’s one bedroom apartment off the Boulevard Hausmann, Garde’s neighbor Alphonse opens the door to Frick, Garde’s German bootmaker in search of his ex-wife Gabrielle, also Garde’s glovemaker. Arriving home with the Swedes, Garde shows the Baron and Baroness their “hotel rooms.” The Baron asks Garde to deliver a letter to Metella, an opera singer who he’s been ‘referred’ to by a Baron Frascata. After Garde consents, the Baron demands a big group diner at the hotel. Garde thinks on his feet and recruits Frick and Gabrielle. Bob drops by to check in on how Garde is doing with the Baroness and concocts a party to occupy the Baron so that Garde can have a moment alone with the Baroness. He’ll host it at his aunt’s Madame de Quimper-Karadec’s apartment - she’s conveniently out of town. Metella calls and is presented with the letter and the Baron who she consents to visit with the following night. As things heat up, the dinner guests arrive to entertain the Baron. 

    Act Three

    Saturday evening. The Baroness is off to the opera and Bob prepares his aunt’s house for the Baron’s decoy party with the help of her servants. Garde checks in to make sure Bob has the evening in hand. The Baron arrives and the servants announce themselves as a series of noble guests, and Pauline the chambermaid attacks the job with admirable rigor. Bob, in disguise, welcomes the Baron but it seems he’s had a wardrobe malfunction. The servants realize that there’s noone to serve them and recruit some newbies in order to proceed with the festivities. 

    INTERMISSION! 

    Act Four

    Later Saturday evening. High on opera, The Baroness has returned to Garde’s waiting arms. They are rudely interrupted by the Baroness’ friend Babette and her Aunt, Mme de Quimper-Karadec, who returned home early and found their apartment in total disarray because of Bob’s party. The Baroness shares the letter she received with her old friends which tells of her husband’s planned infidelity with Metella and they go off in search of a way to get even, to Garde’s dismay. Just then the Baron and his new pals return, celebrating a night on the town. 

    Act Five

    Sunday night at the Cafe du Cirque, where the New York Politico is throwing a masked ball. The Baron arrives on the hunt for Metella, who arrives to seduce him. The Baroness and her cadre show up on cue and unmask themselves and then the Baron who is caught at his own game. The women exeunt into the party and the Baron swears to get vengeance on Gardefeu who he realizes is at the center of the web of deceit. With the help of the New Yorker and his unconventional negotiating tactics, Bob and Garde convince the Baron that he had a wonderful time abroad. The Baron apologizes to his wife, who has had an epiphany in Paris, and all end up getting what they traveled for, and more! They celebrate freedom, love, and la vie parisienne! 

Cast

  • Randy Ho

    Raoul de Gardefeu

  • Philip Themio Stoddard

    Bobinet

  • Sung-yeun Kim

    Gabrielle

  • Tivoli Treloar

    Metella

  • Geoffrey Schmelzer

    Le Baron de Gondremarck

  • Chase Sanders

    La Baronne de Gondremarck

  • Daniel Esteban Lugo

    New Yorker/Frick

  • Fantine Douilly

    Pauline

  • Sadie Spivey

    Clara

  • Kate Morton

    Madame de Folle-Verdure

  • Brennan Martinez

    Léonie

  • Chuanyuan Liu

    Madame de Quimper-Karadec

  • Wagner Mauricio Pastor

    Gontran/Prosper

  • Michael Segura

    Urbain

  • Jack O’Leary

    Joseph/Alphonse

Creative Team

  • Juliane Gallant

    Conductor

  • Mary Birnbaum

    Director

  • Zoe Lesser

    Assistant Director

  • Gloria Yin

    Assistant Conductor/Chorus Master

  • Krit Robinson

    Scenic Designer

  • Anshuman Bhatia

    Lighting Designer

  • Audrey Nauman

    Costume Co-Designer

  • Michael Schaffner

    Costume Co-Designer

  • Tim Drucker

    Book

  • Sam Torres

    Sound Designer

Hair and Makeup Designer Earon Nealey

French Diction Coach Bénédicte Jourdois

Speaking Voice Coach Annie Shikany

Movement Coach Cali Quan

Stage Manager Caro Yeung

Principal Coach/Répétiteur Djordje Nesic

Assistant Stage Manager Guadalupe Chavezmalagon

Festival Artist Pianist Abigal Wilemon

Supertitles Laurie Rogers/Mary Birnbaum

Supertitle Operator Abigail Wilemon

Costumes for La Vie parisienne are sponsored by the Marcelle Foundation.