Opera Las Vegas hits high note with 25th anniversary

Opera can be a tough sell in Las Vegas.

To be fair, though, “It’s a tough sell anywhere,” says James Sohre, general director of Opera Las Vegas since 2017.

“Especially in Las Vegas, there’s so much competing for people’s attention,” Sohre says. “The Philharmonic has found a pretty good audience. The ballet has found a good audience. Local theaters have found a good audience. And we have begun to fill our houses for the classics.”

Last year’s performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s classic “La Traviata” was the first sellout in the history of the company that’s celebrating its 25th anniversary season. It’s looking to replicate that feat with this weekend’s production of “La Bohème.” Giacomo Puccini’s opera will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Sunday in UNLV’s Judy Bayley Theatre. (Tickets start at $50. See operalasvegas.com for details.)

“There’s a very understandable story,” Sohre says, “about a woman who has a progressive illness, and she falls in love with a penniless poet, and their love tries to survive all of that.”

The tale of bohemian artists living in Paris has inspired “Rent” and “Moulin Rouge.” Homer Simpson even got in on the action, starring in a Springfield production of “La Bohème” in the 2007 episode “The Homer of Seville.”

If Homer got it, there’s a pretty good chance you will, too.

“There’s no mystery to it,” Sohre says of people attending the opera for the first time. “They don’t need to be self-conscious or feel like they won’t understand it.”

Years ago, given that operas are rarely performed in English, fans felt the need to read the libretto ahead of time and learn the plot in hopes of following the story. Now, with English translations being projected like movie subtitles, there’s no homework involved.

“You don’t have to put on a tuxedo,” Sohre says, dispelling another myth. “There’s not a formal approach to how to appreciate the opera. It’s all about emotion, and everybody has emotions. … I think people are surprised when they first come to see opera because it is so accessible.”

“La Bohème” stars tenor Arnold Livingston Geis as the poet Rodolfo and soprano Shannon Jennings as the frail seamstress, Mimì. The production also includes members of the Las Vegas Philharmonic, the Las Vegas Master Singers and the Opera Las Vegas Youth Chorus.

The latter, a collaboration with Thurman White Academy of the Performing Arts, is another way Opera Las Vegas is converting fans.

“(It’s) created interest in that age group and that demographic,” Sohre says. “Their families are coming to it and become ticket buyers.”

That’s usually all it takes, he says.

“Once people come see us, they’re hooked.”

Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4567. Follow @life_onthecouch on X.