Love “La Bohème”? Brush up by streaming operamission from NY, beginning this Tuesday

opermission offers a fabulous opportunity to learn all about Puccini’s “La Bohème” through a 4 part program that begins this Tuesday that West Coast audiences can videostream live.

I really enjoyed Santa Fe Opera’s production of Puccini’s La Bohème when I visited in July.  The age-old story of star-crossed lovers Mimi and Rodolfo falling in and out of love in 19th-century Paris, set to gorgeous music, is one of the most beloved operas of all times.  I’ve just learned of a fabulous opera “happening”:  A feisty little New York company called, “operamission,” will videostream a 4-session immersion, essentially unpacking La Bohème, act by act, from the Gershwin Hotel in New York, starting this Tuesday, August 16, 2011 and continuing Sunday, August 21; Tuesday, August 23; and Sunday, August 28, all at 7pm EDST (4pm PDST). Audiences on the West Coast can stream any or all of the four sessions live at 4 pm at Ustream.

“Puccini’s La Bohème: Assembly Required,” is presented by operamission and Neke Carson, (art event curator of the Gershwin Hotel.)  This unique four part series will offer an insider’s view of “assembling” an opera.  For the first two hours of each session, conductor Jennifer Peterson, operamission’s director, will rehearse an ad-hoc orchestra and an international cast of soloists in one act of Puccini’s masterpiece, with opera dramaturg Cori Ellison and stage directors Eric Einhorn (8/16), Jonathon Field (8/21 and 8/23), and Marc Verzatt (8/28) offering commentary.  They will be joined by live and internet audience members and blogging and Tweeting journalists doing the same, in real time.  The result: a spontaneous nationwide opera “community” and a unique and fun learning experience.  The third hour of each session will offer an uninterrupted performance of the act just rehearsed.  The program will showcase a ‘tag‐team’ style cast of acclaimed international operatic artists too (listed below) from La Scala, the Met, the old New York City Opera, Teatro Colon, Glimmerglass, and all over. 

Act I – Tuesday, August 16, 4-7pm

CAST: Roseanne Ackerley, Glenn Seven Allen, David Adam Moore, Michael Weyandt, Cory Clines, Lawrence Long

HOSTS: Jennifer Peterson, Eric Einhorn, Cori Ellison

Act II – Sunday, August 21, 4-7pm

CAST: Roseanne Ackerley, Sharin Apostolou, Ryan MacPherson, Ryan MacPherson, Michael Weyandt, Cory Clines, Ryan Allen

HOSTS: Jennifer Peterson, Jonathon Field, Cori Ellison

 Act III – Tuesday, August 23, 4-7pm

CAST: Kerri Marcinko, Caroline Worra, Ryan MacPherson, James Bobick

HOSTS: Jennifer Peterson, Jonathon Field, Cori Ellison

Act IV – Sunday, August 28, 4-7pm

CAST: Kerri Marcinko, Caroline Worra, Ryan MacPherson, Gregory Gerbrandt, Michael Weyandt, Kevin Burdette

HOSTS: Jennifer Peterson, Marc Verzatt, Cori Ellison

About operamission:  operamission, bringing the art “from the composer to the audience,” has established its artistic presence in the New York classical music scene with twelve presentations since March 2009.  operamission’s productions have ranged from concerts of Handel opera with period instruments, to cabaret, to fully‐staged operatic world premieres. Last August’s groundbreaking presentation of “Così fan tutte: Some Assembly Required” put the troupe on the map with its dynamic format, enriching audience awareness of opera as an accessible and vivid genre.

Details: For complete details, click to view the press release or postcard.  For free live videostreaming click Ustream. (Just click on the link and you will see a dedicated channel from which you can easily watch all or part of any program.)

Contact: Jennifer Peterson, director, operamission, operamission@gmail.com , or phone 917 520‐3163, or visit  www.operamission.org.