Think of La Boheme as Rent, if Rent had been around 120 years ago, because the thing is, it was. La Boheme tells the story of young artists who can’t afford to live, and some of them have this awful disease. Because it’s an opera, of course, there’s lots of singing. This opera, composed by Giacomo Puccini, boasts a gorgeous score, a beautiful story and a haunting story. La Boheme gets its name from a nontraditional novel by Henri Murger called Scènes de la vie de bohème (Scenes from the Bohemian life). Does a certain song from rent start to make a lot more sense suddenly? The whole damn musical’s an homage to Murger and Puccini; if you love Rent, go see La Boheme. If you’re not an opera fan, though, be forewarend: This opera doesn’t end the way Rent does. We won’t give it away, but remember, in opera (as in life), things don’t come with pretty little bows at the end, especially when people have consumption and no affordable healthcare act. .
