ARTS&LIFE MUSIC
Innovative Opera Detroit Opera to present La bohème in reverse. SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Yuval Sharon
Aundie Marie Moore Fred Buchalter
A |
Brandie Inez Sutton Edward Parks
n innovation-filled local opera scene — from a production staged in a parking garage to one focused on a 21st century family — came to town in 2020 with the arrival of Yuval Sharon, who spent pre-school years in Israel. The artistic director of Detroit Opera (a recent name change from Michigan Opera Theatre) is about to present audiences with another imaginative presentation by reversing the order of acts in Puccini’s classic opera La bohème, which expresses the loves, hopes and struggles of four young bohemians. It will be presented April 2, 6 and 10 at the Detroit Opera
50
Matthew White
MARCH 24 • 2022
House as the first mainstage production since the pandemic. “Either people will be experiencing this opera for the first time or as if it was their first time because no one has heard it this way before,” said Sharon, who developed and directs the production that ends with some dewy anticipation of tomorrow. “We’re offering a truly democratic experience of opera because everyone is on the same level for this piece.” Sharon, who divides his time as founding co-artistic director of The Industry, an experimental opera company in Los Angeles, has been thinking about the changes to La bohème for