LA BOHÈME
PUCCINI’S BELOVED OPERA BOLDLY RE-IMAGINED
“Worth the wait.”
“A tremendous success.”
“Gorgeous and unique reimagining.”
Jan 20 - Feb 27, 2022
CLOSED FEB 27
Ritz Theater
Music by Giacomo Puccini
Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa
New orchestration by Joseph Schlefke
Directed by Peter Rothstein
Music Direction by Sonja Thompson
Featuring Corissa Bussian, Siena Forest, Benjamin Dutcher and David Walton
This passionate, timeless, and indelible story of love among young artists in Paris, can stake its claim as the world’s most popular opera. Theater Latté Da brings Peter Rothstein’s innovative, award-winning staging to the intimate Ritz Theater. Lyrical and touchingly beautiful, La Bohème is the definitive depiction of the joys and sorrows of love and loss, and a celebration of art in the face of adversity.
Theater Latté Da is grateful for the generosity of our Production Sponsors,
Ron Frey and Steve Thompson.
Sung in Italian with English surtitles.
Runtime: 2 hours including intermission.
COVID-19 SAFETY & PROTOCOLS
To ensure the safety of our patrons, Theater Latté Da and the Ritz Theater will require all individuals who attend a performance to provide proof of a full course of COVID-19 vaccination or proof of a negative COVID-19 test result within the previous 72 hours at the time of their entry to the theater. Masks are required at all times in the Ritz Theater.
PS = Post Show Discussions
AD = Audio Described. Audio described performance is February 3rd at 7:30 pm. Reduced price tickets are available for $17.50 for AD patrons and one guest. Please call 612-339-3003 to purchase.
PHOTOS
Photo credit: Dan Norman
VIDEO
PROGRAM
CLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE
FOR OUR DIGITAL PROGRAM
PHOTOS
Scenic design by Michael hoover
CAST
CREATIVE
Director: Peter Rothstein**
Music Director: Sonja Thompson†
Assistant Director: Ben Johnson
Scenic Designer: Michael Hoover
Costume Designer: Rich Hamson
Costume Supervisor: Amber Brown
Wig, Makeup, & Hair Designer: Paul Toni
Lighting Designer: Grant E. Merges
Dramaturg: Elissa Adams
Production Stage Manager: Shelby Reddig*
Assistant Stage Manager: Z Makila*
Assistant Stage Manager/Child Supervisor: Briana Rose Lee*
Stage Management Swing: Rachael Rhoades*
Technical Director: Bethany Reinfeld
Props Supervisor: Abbee Warmboe
Lead Carpenter: Eric Charlton
Carpenter: Whitley Cobb
Scenic Charge: Sara Herman
COVID Compliance Officer: Katie McLean
Sound Supervisor & Audio Engineer: Nicholas Tranby
Lighting Supervisor: Jessica Mrovka
Light & Sound Swing: Corinne Steffens
Dresser: Ash Kaun
Wardrobe & Dresser Swing: Dakota Blankenship
THE BAND
Music Director/Piano: Sonja Thompson†
Guitar: Anthony Titus†
Woodwinds: Ryan Golden†
Violin: Renata Steve†
Accordion: Dee Langley†
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors
**Member of SDC, the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical labor union
†Member of Twin Cities Musicians Union, American Federation of Musicians
+ BIOGRAPHIES
Bergen Baker (Musetta) THEATER LATTÉ DA: debut. THEATER: 7th House Theater: The Great Work. OPERA: Minnesota Opera: The Magic Flute, La Fanciulla del West, Carmen, Rusalka, La Traviata. The Minnesota Orchestra: The Magic Flute, Die Fledermaus. Skylark Opera Theatre: As One. Jacksonville Symphony: Hansel and Gretel. TRAINING: B.M., DePaul University, Chicago; M.M., University of Minnesota - Twin Cities.
Alex Barnett Bio coming soon!
Corissa Bussian (Mimì) THEATER LATTÉ DA: debut. MUSIC THEATER: Theatre Mu: A Little Night Music; GSVLOC: The Grand Duke. OPERA: Arbeit Opera Theatre: The Consul; Minnesota Opera: La Traviata, Dead Man Walking, Le nozze di Figaro, Romeo et Juliette, The Shining, Die Zauberflote, L'elisr d'amore, Turandot; Skylark Opera: La Rondine, The Mikado; Lyric Opera Studio of Weimar: Le nozze di Figaro, Così fan tutte; Lakes Area Music Festival: Die Zauberflote; Janiec Opera Company: Susannah, Camelot, La Bohème, Candide. TRAINING: M.M., Rice University Shepherd School of Music; B.M., DePaul University School of Music; The Wesley Balk Opera/Music-Theater Institute; Brevard Music Center Institute & Festival.
Benjamin Dutcher THEATER LATTÉ DA: All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 (2015-Present), Assassins, Ragtime, Sweeney Todd, Master Class. THEATER: Asolo Repertory Theatre: Sweeney Todd, Ragtime; Artistry Theater: She Loves Me; Trademark Theater: The Boy and Robinhood; Mill City Summer Opera: Carmen, Sweeney Todd; Minnesota Opera: The Shining, The Manchurian Candidate, La fancuilla del West. TRAINING: B.M. Performance (Voice), University of Minnesota Twin Cities. UPCOMING: Eugene Onegin at Skylark Opera Theatre.
Siena Forest (Mimì) THEATER LATTÉ DA debut. OPERA: Minnesota Opera: Dinner at Eight, The Italian Straw Hat, The Shining, Die Zauberflöte; Mill City Summer Opera: Carmen, La fille du régiment; Skylark Opera: Così fan tutte; Out of the Box Opera: Acis and Galatea, Hello Italy!; Lyric Opera of the North: Cinderella, Virtual Little LOON 2021 + 2022. CONCERT: Skylark Opera: Skylark for Seniors; Wagner Society: Music in Action Grant Award; LOFTRecital: Suffrage@100; St. Cloud Symphony: Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. FOUNDING PRESIDENT of OOPS MN. TRAINING: B.M.&M.M, Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, Minnesota Opera’s Resident Artist Program.
Bradley Greenwald THEATER LATTÉ DA: Puttin' On The Ritz, A Little Night Music, Steerage Song, Oliver!, C. (also book and lyrics), NEXT Festival. THEATER: Open Eye Figure Theater: The Longest Night, Dear Lenny: Bernstein's Life in Songs & Letters; Jungle Theater: I Am My Own Wife, The Mystery of Irma Vep; Ten Thousand Things Theater: My Fair Lady, As You Like It; Children's Theater Company: A Year With Frog & Toad, The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins; Park Square: The Pirates of Penzance; Artistry: A New Brain, Follies; Frank Theatre: The Threepenny Opera, Cabaret; James Sewell Ballet: Nutcracker (not so) Suite. AWARDS: Minnesota State Arts Board Music Fellowship, McKnight Fellowship for Theater Artists, Ivey Award (I Am My Own Wife). ALSO: libretto adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time, opera by Libby Larsen.
Anna Hashizume (Nanny/Farm Woman): THEATER LATTÉ DA: Puttin’ On The Ritz. THEATER: Artistry: Mary Poppins; Open Eye Theatre: LOG JAM!; Theatre Elision: Of Art and Artists; Lyric Arts: Sense and Sensibility; An Opera Theater: The Sky Where You Are, In The Midst of Things; Collective Unconscious Performance: Into the Darkness; Mixed Precipitation: The Clemency of Tito’s Tennis Club, Dr. Falstaff and the Working Wives of Lake County, Philemon and Baucis: Planet in Peril. OPERA: Fargo-Moorhead Opera: Don Giovanni, Speed Dating, Tonight!; Minnesota Opera: La Traviata, Thaïs; Lyric Opera of the North: Rigoletto. In 2017 she was a Schubert Club Competition Winner. TRAINING: M.M., University of Minnesota; B.S.O.F, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. annahashizume.com @annahashizume
Katherine Henly Bio coming soon!
Andrew Nalley (Alcindoro): THEATER LATTÉ DA: debut. OPERA/THEATER: Natchez Festival of Music: Carmen, Showboat. Miami Music Festival: The Cunning Little Vixen. Charlottesville Opera: South Pacific. Opera in the Ozarks: La Cenerentola, Les contes d'Hoffman, Così fan tutte, Into the Woods. TRAINING: M.M., University of Houston. B.M., University of Alabama.
Rodolfo Nieto (Colline): THEATER LATTÉ DA: Candide, A Little Night Music, Assassins, Man of La Mancha, All Is Calm (2017 National Tour, 2018 Off-Broadway, 2019-2021 Ritz), Puttin' on the Ritz. THEATER: Mixed Precipitation: The Pickup Truck Opera: Volume 1, The Odyssey; Park Square Theatre: Riddle Puzzle Plot; Really Spicy Opera: Émilie; Artistry: A New Brain; History Theater: Dirty Business. During the self-isolation of 2020 Rodolfo began writing and performing his own music, producing pieces such as “The Minnesota Beer Song”; and “Un Despertar / An Awakening”, a bilingual concert of Spanish and English songs recorded at The Ritz theater. www.rodolfo-nieto.com.
Morrow Piper (A Boy) is a 7th grader from Arden Hills making his Theater Latté Da debut. He has been on many stages with the Minnesota Boychoir and has dabbled in voiceover, most notably for Porsche. He enjoys doodling on the piano, learning about space, and being in nature. He lives with Mom, Dad, two brothers, a sister, and Indy, the family cat. Morrow is very excited about the opportunity to perform for you and hopes you love the show!
James Plante (Parpignol/Street Sweeper) THEATER LATTÉ DA: Susannah. THEATER: Arizona Broadway Theater: Phantom; Utah Festival Opera: Camelot, Pirates of Penzance; GLOW Lyric Theatre: Trial by Jury; Lyric Arts: White Christmas; OPERA: Appearances with The Minnesota Opera, The Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Pine Mountain Music Festival, Utah Festival Opera, and Kansas Concert Opera. TRAINING: B.M. (Voice), University of Minnesota. M.M.(Opera), University of Kansas.
Tony Potts Bio coming soon!
Noah Scharback (A Boy) is a 7th grader in Minnetonka and is thrilled to be back at Theater Latté Da following this show’s two-year Covid sabbatical. He devotes his time to studying cello with Dr. David Holmes, playing travel soccer with Tonka Fusion Elite, and singing with the Minnesota Boychoir. Noah’s opera credits include La Bohème and the role of Miles in The University of Minnesota Opera Theatre’s production of Britten’s Turn of the Screw. Noah’s most accomplished role to date is that of Big Brother to his three little sisters. He is so grateful to be learning from and performing with this amazing cast again.
Quinn Shadko Bio coming soon!
Justin Anthony Spenner (Schaunard): THEATER LATTÉ DA: debut. THEATER: An Opera Theatre: In the Midst of Things, The Sky Where You Are, The Consul; 113 Composers: Das Fliegenpapier (World Premiere film), Strange Autumn, Maulwerke, The Golden Ass (World Premiere); Skylark Opera Theatre: Cosi fan tutte, The Most Happy Fella Self-Produced: I Enter as a Stranger, Like Sun Through Eyelids (recital), A Winter Journey, Is This Music?!?! (podcast); La Grande Bande: Apollo e Dafne, Coffee Cantata. TRAINING: B.M. & M.M.
David Walton THEATER LATTÉ DA: All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914. OPERA: Minnesota Opera: Don Pasquale, The Shining, Roméo et Juliette, The Magic Flute, Diana’s Garden; Glimmerglass Festival: The Barber of Seville, La bohème; Virginia Opera: Cinderella; Madison Opera: The Abduction from the Seraglio; Opera Carolina: The Daughter of the Regiment. THEATER: Oxford Shakespeare Festival: The Merry Wives of Windsor, Henry IV part 1; TRAINING: Resident Artist, Minnesota Opera. Gerdine Young Artist, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Young Artist, Glimmerglass Festival. B.M.E. Harding University, M.M. University of Mississippi.
Amy Wolf (Flower Seller/Farm Woman): THEATER LATTÉ DA: debut. OPERA: Journey North Opera: Proving Up, The Rape of Lucretia, Don Giovanni; An Opera Theater: The Consul; Opera Reading Project: Madama Butterfly, Carmen, La Traviata; Minnesota Opera: Elektra, The Marriage of Figaro, Semiramide, Pagliacci/Carmina Burana; Opera on the James: Don Giovanni, The Merry Widow; Duluth Festival Opera: La Bohème, Dido and Aeneas; Garden of Song Opera: Hansel and Gretel, Cendrillon, Dido and Aeneas. TRAINING: B.M Vocal Performance, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.
