By Jody Tuso-Key — Managing Editor

REVIEW: The Atlanta Opera’s BOHEME project at Pullman Yards is a beautiful tribute to pandemic workers

Author’s note: This is part one of a three-part review, comparing and contrasting The Boheme projects two offerings, and giving accolades to the behind the scenes artists that contributed to these visually stunning performances.  As each show also deserves their own accolade. Please read part two, a review of LA BOHEME as well as part three, a review of RENT.

Something phenomenal is happening at the opera in Pullman Yards. On alternating evenings, Wednesday-Thursday and Friday-Saturday or Sunday at 2 pm and 8 pm until October 6th, you can see Giacomo Puccini’s world-renowned  Italian Opera LA BOHEME and then Jonathan Larson’s Tony Award-winning musical RENT. Of course, you can also see RENT first, but I recommend you go in chronological order. Pay attention to this review, as when you are finished you can draw a Venn Diagram and add it to the comments of this review.  

These two shows are a great artistic pairing. Where LA BOHEME is an aged Zinfandel, RENT is a crisp White Zinfandel. So fitting since these were the most popular wines of the show’s respective time periods, and like the shows, the wines are related.  The two night double feature is part of the Opera’s LaBoheme project which began last spring with the traditional staging of the show set in the 1890s and highlights the French Bohemian life and the Tuberculosis pandemic. This season we are brought to Pullman Yards and a reimagining of  La Boheme set in New York City at the start of the COVID-19  pandemic in 2020, followed the next night by Jonathan Larson’s Rent, set 100 years after the original work in the 1990s and highlights the Bohemian existence of New York’s East Village and the Aids pandemic. 

The Atlanta Opera had its own journey through the pandemic, and it proved to be a very successful model. They were one of the few theaters in the country to remain open, and adopted a big-top theme where people could safely attend and social distance. They also offered their shows in a digital format which was expertly produced and distributed. My own personal relationship as Speakeysie’s Managing Editor began with the Opera during this time, and we’ve enjoyed the relationship we have promoting and reviewing this amazing organization for the past 4 years. As such, it’s only fitting that the ATL Opera has dedicated these works to the healthcare workers who worked tirelessly through the pandemic as well as Dr. Carlos Del Rio, John Halpert, and their heroic colleagues at Grady and Emory Healthcare for helping the Opera to navigate ways to safely perform for audiences during COVID-19. 

My personal experience with these three diseases is as follows: When I started teaching back in 1995, I taught in Albuquerque Public schools. One of the first things the did is prick your arm for a Tuberculosis test as this was still a disease due to the migrant influx into the state at the time. As far as AIDS is concerned, I grew up in the 1980s and was a teenager and young adult during the AIDS pandemic. As a college student in the late 80s, I’m not embarrassed to admit that using condoms with standard practice and annual exams included tests for STDs including AIDS upon request. Any of us that were sexually active practiced these two mitigations. I had a cousin who passed away of the disease, and know several other people who are living with it currently. Of course the COVID-19 pandemic was interesting to navigate as a public school teacher during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years. I lost friends and family members, as we all probably did, and have had COVID twice myself. 

What I find is that shows like La Boheme and Rent help us come together and realize that while we needed to social distance for a while, we are a collective and can now remember this shared experience in a space with each other-sitting side-by-side, and immersed in the amazing set created by Co-Director & Set/Projection Designer Vita Tzykun. The same inspirational set was used for both shows, with little variation. A ¾ thrust concept with a twist brings the audience into the action, and we feel like we are citizens of NYC–innocent bystanders watching the action unfold. For LA BOHEME, the traditional orchestra was situated behind the set on the floor. In contrast, the RENT’s more rock-opera style musicians were perched atop the upper part of the set above the colorful spiral staircase. In front of this main set piece was another stage which represented the apartment occupied by the main characters. There was little variation in the apartment with the exception from what I could see except for a colorful pouf on the floor and a 90s style phone-answering machine combo was added for RENT, as well as the phone booths which were an integral part of the original broadway production. In between the main set and the apartment are tables and chairs as well as couches for the audience to sit right in the center of the action. Flanking the main stage on both sides are two long raised platforms on either side spanning the length of the sides of the three-quarter thrust concept. The platforms are expertly painted graffiti style. There are also main audience sections in the center, left, and right of the stage.  We happened to sit in the main audience, center section, second row, but I can assure you, there isn’t a bad seat in the house as the actors use every inch of the warehouse. 

The parallels found in both shows are evident if you see one show after the other in this format. Pucini’s main characters are named Rodolfo and Marcello, where Larson’s complementary characters are roommates Roger and Mark. Respectively, their friend Colline is called Tom Collins, Benoit  the harsh and yet benevolent landlord is Benjamin ‘Benny’ Coffin III, Schaunaurd is transformed into Angel Dumott Schunard, a generous, fun loving, and happy-go-lucky character. The desirable Musetta, Marcelo’s former girlfriend, is now Maureen. The only character that retains her name is Mimi, a pivotal character who in LaBoheme is an embroiderer and in RENT is an S&M dancer and heroin addict. The final character in RENT, Joanne Jefferson is a replacement for the somewhat inconsequential Alcindoro in LaBoheme. Joanne is Maureen’s new partner whereas Alcindoro is Musetta’s wealthy suitor, for which she is somewhat bored. 

There are also many plot parallels which I will not divulge. See if you can pick them out and create a separate Venn Diagram to share with me in the comments of this review. 

Another thing a large warehouse affords is the ability to invite food vendors and artisans to entice audiences even before the walk in the door. I suggest you arrive at least 1 ½ hours early to take in all the sights and sounds. Once inside, you’ll find two full bars, a pool table and other parlor games, a large gathering area, and a place to purchase all your favorite Opera swag. After your ticket is scanned, you will enter the wonderful world of Atlanta’s own Bohemians displaying their art and even working on pieces right before your eyes. The art is all for sale, so please support these artists and consider buying a new piece for your collection.  During the 25 minute intermission, we enjoyed a comfy couch in the inner lobby. I personally enjoyed the extra long intermission as it gave us time to catch up and enjoy the spectacle around us. I’m a bohemian at heart, and If this were a community, I’d sign up to live there. 

Here are several images of the art installations. Keep scrolling to read more review:

Israeli  born Tomer Zvulun is both the General and Artistic Director of the Atlanta Opera as well as the Co-Director of both shows. He joined the Opera in 2013 and has worked tirelessly and creatively to help the Atlanta Opera gain the status as one of the top 10 opera companies in the USA. In addition to Pullman Yards, the Opera performs the Cobb Energy Center, has partnered with Alliance Theatre, and performed under a big top. It was recently announced yesterday that ATL Opera will be opening a venue at the Bobby Jones Clubhouse slated to be completed in 2027. Tomer has an incredible imagination and assembles amazing talent to help his visions become reality. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the production crew, all accomplished creative artists in their own rite. Sound Designer Joshua D Reid and Lighting Designer Thomas C Hase shared the daunting task of filling this immense warehouse with the appropriate light and sound and did so expertly. 

Amy Sutton’s costumes along with Lindsey Ewing’s wigs and makeup were time-period correct and portrayed the socioeconomic status of the players accurately. I was so pleased to see associate director Ricardo Aponte’s choreography as I love his work and haven’t seen it probably since before the pandemic. Kudos go out to Graffiti Artists Henry Samuels and Jesse Jaeger. I took the opportunity to look at the graffiti up-close and it would probably take hours to pursue it all. Finally, as has become a staple for the ATL Opera, a filmed version of this show will be available to stream online for those who can’t make it to the theater. Filmed Media is provided by Felipe Barral and Amanda Sachtleben. In fact, the show was live streamed as well as at the Tara Theater, a cherished Atlanta landmark and indie theater located just down the street from Pullman Yards. 

As we are aware, pandemics plague, our earth on a constant basis. While death is an inevitable part of life, it is very heartbreaking for those of us left behind. We all wrestle with our own mortalities.  When all your friends and others around you are passing away in numbers, the sorrow is compounded. I know we have all been affected by the AIDS and COVID epidemics and have experienced this profound loss. The ugly reality is pandemics are nature’s way of thinning out the population of the earth. Nevertheless, these diseases result in a sometimes long and painful suffering prior to death. I’m sure you can name at least five people you know that have crossed over the great divide due to AIDS or COVID, and maybe even Tuberculosis. I lost my beloved uncle and several other friends to COVID. I lost a cousin to AIDS, and mourned with the nation over the deaths of Freddie Mercury and Arther Ashe, among others.  May the victims of the pandemic rest in peace, may love and light shine upon them, may perpetual light shine upon them, and may their memory be for a blessing.