As the summer heat impresses its sweltering ways upon Tampa Bay, Puccini's La Bohème offers a passage to passion with a tragic love story, Italian libretto and ... snow. The opera (sung in Italian with English subtitles) has provided inspiration for Rent and Moulin Rouge, and follows a group of 19th-century Parisian artists struggling to do more than merely survive in a time of dire poverty and debility; they also want to be madly in love. (Some things never change.) The Palladium, now in partnership with St. Pete College, has produced several operas in the past, which has led to the formation of the St. Petersburg Opera Company. This is its first production; Mark Sforzini directs and Elizabeth Claxton, Jon Truitt and Todd Donovan star with music by the FloriMezzo Orchestra. Tues., June 12, 7:30 p.m., Palladium Theater, 253 Fifth Ave. N., St. Petersburg, $15-$75, 727-822-3590, mypalladium.org.
