La Bohème [Opera North] – Review – Leeds Grand Theatre

By Hazel Davis, October 2025

Despite being an opera fan with a budding Maria Callas-obsessed teen daughter, I’ve never actually seen a live production of La Bohème.

Rent? Seen it 400 times, mate. I toddled off to Leeds Grand for Opera North’s staging of Phyllida Lloyd’s reworking, which first premiered in 1993, knowing more about Roger and Mimi than Rodolfo and Mimi, but knowing that (spoiler) it doesn’t end well.

Lloyd’s La Bohème transports Puccini’s four-act opera to late-50s Paris in the winter (of course) and has more in common set-wise with Jonathan Larson’s 1990s rock musical than the expected staging of Puccini’s 1890s masterpiece.

A sparse-paint-splattered set, set within a picture frame, set the perfect scene for these struggling artists. Rusty motorbikes and threadbare jumpers replace elaborate costumes and it’s all the better for it. A flickering stove sits in the corner, reminding us that sometimes simplicity is just what you need.

Anthony Ciaramitaro as Rodolfo and Olivia Boen as Mimì

“Heart-rending”

The inventive set design makes the transitions seem effortless. The simple rotating Cafe Momus works brilliantly, switching between a city scene and a bustling cafe on either side. Watching this show in late October made the Christmas scenes thrilling. Velveted children (with gorgeous clear voices) and Father Christmases delivered a regular colourful shot amid the gloom of bohemian poverty. “Real” snow makes the audience shiver along with the bohemians.

Seamstress Mimi and poet Rodolfo (Olivia Boen and Anthony Ciaramitaro) are perfectly cast. Ciaramitaro as the dramatic Rodolfo transcends his boring blue jumper with a rich and sonorous voice and his chemistry with Mimi is sweet and believable. Elin Pritchard shines as Musetta alongside Yuriy Yurchuk’s likeable (against my better judgement) Marcello.

It was very hard not to root for all these poor unfortunate souls, despite them not always making the right choices. Mimi’s (MASSIVE spoiler alert) death is genuinely heart-rending, causing one of my young companions to afterwards proclaim, “No way! I *never* saw that coming. I thought she’d be ok!” Boen makes for an exceptional consumptive, delivering her lines with simultaneous clarity and believable lung reduction.

Elin Pritchard as Musetta, Seán Boylan as Schaunard, Han Kim as Colline, Olivia Boen as Mimì, Anthony Ciaramitaro as Rodolfo and Yuriy Yurchuk as Marcello

“Dynamic sensitivity”

And to the music. After all, it’s all about Puccini’s delicious soaring score. The Orchestra of Opera North, conducted by Garry Walker, bring their unrivalled dynamic sensitivity to the music, never overshadowing but empathically and with precision, driving forward the tragic story. As an opera La Boheme ebbs and flows, dropping in arias almost secretly, rather than announcing them as standalone events. This can, of course, make it much harder to spot the “bangers” but helps the narrative pulse along without interruption and leaves you feeling you’ve watched a musical play rather than a bunch of opera stars performing some hits.

Modern revivals like these are necessary. Irritating to some, who prefer the pomp and circumstance of a large-scale, full-costume production, they serve to remind us that, actually, it’s all about the music. You can put Musetta in a huge dress and decorate the Cafe Momus with gold chandeliers all you like but none of it really matters when the music is so rich and the plot so devastating. People are flawed, they love, they die. The end.

‘La Bohème’ is at Leeds Grand Theatre until 1st November
images: Richard H Smith

Hazel Davis( Writer )

Hazel Davis lives in West Yorkshire and has been a journalist for most of the UK national newspapers and many magazines, cutting her teeth on a classical music magazine. She’s the lead singer in a country band (Mustard County), plays trumpet in a wind band and big band and cornet in a brass band. When she’s not playing music or writing about it, she’s usually thinking about it.

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