The Bohemians Movie is an updated film version of Puccini’s La Bohème set in present day Williamsburg Brooklyn. As the current hot bed of counter cultural artistic expression, Williamsburg presents the perfect modern counter point to the Latin Quarter of Paris in the mid 1800’s. Produced by legendary tenor Plácido Domingo’s son, Alvaro Domingo, eleven-time Grammy winner Rafa Sardina and Matthias Schmitt, written and directed by Jose Luis R. Cortes and produced and written by Adam Margulies from his original idea. Margulies also performs the role of Marcello in the film.
Production began in November of 2011 and it is currently in post-production planned for a 2013 release.
The filmmakers have put together a cast of young and talented singers including three-time winner of Plácido Domingo’s Operalia Competition, tenor Israel Lozano and soprano Suzanne Kantorski-Merrill. The cast is rounded out with young graduates from Manhattan School of Music, Juilliard and the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia namely Jonathan Estabrooks, Claire Coolen, Tom McNichols and David Robinson.
The filmmakers’ stated goal is to “bring opera out of the opera house and into your living room”. Hence the decision to shoot the film in the modern day bohemian mecca of Williamsburg, Brooklyn which presented unique opportunities for innovation and modernization of Puccini’s masterpiece.
Additionally, the film, while using the Puccini score as the main musical body and spine of the piece, overlays contemporary music and sound to create a rich and multi layered audial landscape which they hope will enhance the depth of authenticity and modernity they are striving for in bringing La Bohème to a younger wider audience.
In pursuit of this, the filmmakers employed a similar live recording technique employed by the upcoming Les Misérables film. Led by eleven-time Grammy winning Sound Engineer and Producer Rafa Sardina the crew recorded the singers singing live on the sets to a piano score. The orchestra will then be laid over the vocal score to match the immediacy and drama of the set vocal recording. This eliminates the problem with many past opera films where the obvious lip-synching of the singers on set greatly diminished the drama and feeling of actual live performance. This coupled with the use of layered modern musical modalities, ambient sound and the vibrant locations of present day Williamsburg will greatly enhance the appeal and accessibility of the classic tale to a younger generation.
With all the criticism and praise back and forth concerning the Met’s Live in HD theatrical broadcasts and replays, perhaps The Bohemians will strike a perfect balance between live theatrical opera performance and film. Regardless, opera desperately needs new ideas, new presentation and the new audience that will come along with that to take opera into the 21st Century and beyond.
Please visit the links below for more information on this project.
-Elizabeth Frayer and Shawn E Milnes
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