LA Summer Tour News Articles
Entertainment Today:
Showbiz News
By Karen Butler, United Press International, From the Life & Mind Desk
17 April 2003
L.A. BOHEME?
A production of Baz Luhrmann's Broadway hit "La Bohème" will open in Los
Angeles this summer.
The production of the Puccini opera will be the fourth and final offering of the season
opening July 30 at the Ahmanson Theatre and playing through Sept. 19. Previews begin July
28.
"La Bohème" opened to rave reviews on Broadway on Dec. 8, 2002, and continues
its run at the Broadway Theatre. The spectacular show premiered in Australia in 1990 and
became the biggest hit in the history of the Sydney Opera House and a sold-out sensation.
"La Bohème" played return sold-out engagements at the Sydney Opera House in
1993, when it was recorded for video, and in 1996.
"When Puccini and his librettists created 'La Bohème,' opera was actually the
popular entertainment of the day," Luhrmann, director of the films "Moulin
Rouge" and "William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet" has said.
"With our cast of young singers, we hope to tell this story in a way that will appeal
not only to the people who love Puccini's music, but to the younger audiences who may
never have seen an opera before," he explained. "It's always our job as
storytellers to re-enliven that story. To find a new way that it can be received and
embraced again, and that's absolutely what we've set out to address in this theatre, and
most particularly, in this time."
For further information about the Los Angeles production, visit TaperAhmanson.com.
________________________________
L.A.'s Ahmanson Gets Broadway-Bound
Never Gonna Dance, Bohème, Millie in 2004
By Ernio Hernandez, Playbill.com
15 Apr 2003
The Broadway-bound musical Never Gonna Dance, Baz Luhrmann's staging of La Bohème and
Tony Award winner Thoroughly Modern Millie are part of the new 2003-2004 season at Los
Angeles' Ahmanson Theatre.
George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber’s comedy The Royal Family will also be included in
the season which begins with two bonus productions: Flower Drum Song, returning to
California where it played the Mark Taper Forum prior to its Broadway engagement; and The
Phantom of the Opera.
The musical Never Gonna Dance, which has been in development for a number of years, will
start the season at California's Ahmanson before heading to Broadway. Never Gonna Dance is
based on the classic Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers 1936 film, "Swing Time,"
featuring a score by Jerome Kern. Librettist Jeffrey Hatcher, director Michael Greif and
choreographer Jerry Mitchell are all attached to the project.
The Weissberger Theater Group/Jay Harris, Edgar Bronfman, Jr., James Walsh and Ted
Hartley/RKO Pictures will produce Never Gonna Dance which opens Jan. 25, 2004.
The Royal Family, Kaufman and Ferber's valentine to the theatre, more specifically the
Barrymore family, will take the stage for a March 31 opening. The comedy follows the
theatrical "first family" of the Cavendishes in the new Center Theatre
Group/Ahmanson production.
The national tour of last season's big Tony winner for Best Musical, Thoroughly Modern
Millie, will make a stop at the Ahmanson stage, opening May 21. The Michael
Mayer-directed, Rob Ashford-choreographed production of the musical, which has a book by
Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan, music by Jeanine Tesori and lyrics by Dick Scanlan, is
also a part of the Broadway/L.A. 2003-2004 season.
Ending the Ahmanson season, opening July 30, is the Baz Luhrmann production of Puccini's
opera La Bohème. Jeffrey Seller, Kevin McCollum, Emanuel Azenberg and Bazmark Live
produce the L.A. run which will feature a rotating cast as its Broadway counterpart.
The complete 2003-2004 Ahmanson season (subject to change) is as follows:
Flower Drum Song Sept. 16-28
The Phantom of the Opera Oct. 8-Dec. 6
Never Gonna Dance Jan. 14-March 7, 2004
The Royal Family March 23-May 16, 2004
Thoroughly Modern Millie May 18-July 25, 2004
La Bohème July 28-Sept. 19, 2004
Subscriptions to the 2003-2004 season at the Ahmanson, 135 North Grand Ave (at Temple St.)
in Los Angeles, CA are currently available by calling (213) 628-2772 or visiting www.TaperAhmanson.com.
________________________________
La Bohème Tour Will Begin in
Summer 2004
By Robert Simonson, Playbill.com
05 Apr 2003
La Bohème, the striking and stirring new
staging of the classic Puccini opera now playing on Broadway, will launch a national tour
in summer 2004, director Baz Luhrmann told Playbill On-Line.
Luhrmann is currently in New York City casting for the road company. No specific cities
have been announced for the tour, but the director said several are interested. In the
coming weeks, he will travel from town to town to discover which theatres are suited to
housing an engagement of the uniquely designed La Bohème.
As with the Broadway rendition, the tour will boast multiple casts taking on the roles of
the four central lovers. In New York, David Miller, Jesús Garcia and Alfred Boe play
Rodolfo in rep, opposite the rotating Mimis of Ekaterina Solovyeva, Lisa Hopkins and Wei
Huang. Jessica Comeau and Chlöe Wright share Musetta opposite the Marcellos of Eugene
Brancoveanu and Ben Davis.
Luhrmann wasn't certain whether the road company would also have three Rodolfos and Mimis.
"It will have to be multiple casts. That is sure. But what were finding is certain
players can sustain a little more and some a little less. It's going to be about
individuals." Earlier, it had been announced that David Miller would be leaving the
cast in April to star in an opera version of Margaret Edson's play Wit in Milan. Luhrmann
revealed that Miller has opted to remain with the Broadway show.
The day after its Dec. 8 Broadway opening, La Bohème did close to $1 million in ticket
sales, pointing the Italian-language Puccini classic down the road toward being a hit. As
is the case with other shows, the opera took a hit at the box office with the advent of
the recent musicians union strike, and now the war in Iraq. Luhrmann, responding to
current events and their affect on Broadway said, "Snow. Strike. The war. Could you
kick the theatre any more? But Broadway is incredibly resilient. Our world has such
heaviness. It's time to get out and drink some wine, eat some food, see some theatre and
have some life. There's always going to be conflict from now until we die, so let's get on
with it."
"It's been a test for absolutely everybody," he continued. "It only shows
that the work itself, the shows, the care and the passion have to be that much greater.
You can't be in any way complacent about it."
________________________________
