The action of LA BOHÈME has been reimagined for contemporary settings and will be staged in bars, legion halls and lobbies across Canada from September 27 to November 7. Opening with a performance at the legendary Banff Legion, then touring across the country with 23 performances in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and the Yukon!
La Bohème, the innovative AtG production that started it all and uprooted opera from the opera house, returns this fall with a multi-province and territory tour in a partnership with Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Six of the 7 singers in the production are alumni from Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.
“We’ve been putting opera in bars since Day 1 and started our Opera Pub series at the Banff Legion to bring the art form to new audiences, and to share our incredible music with people in a place where they were comfortable and could have a beer. My whole aim since founding AtG was to make great art accessible to everyone, and we are thrilled to be marking our 10th anniversary with this major Canadian tour, and bringing the first opera to the Yukon in over 100 years,” said Joel Ivany, Founder and Director of AtG.
“We’re proud of Joel’s success and wanted to promote the idea that opera belongs to every Canadian, that’s why we’re thrilled to be supporting the tour,” said Janice Price, President and CEO of Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.
Tickets are between $25-$35.00 and go on sale today at 11:00 a.m. EST, for these venues across the country.
Friday, Sept 27, Banff, AB - Royal Canadian Legion Branch 26 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept 28, Calgary, AB - WordFest at 7:30 p.m.
Monday, Sept. 30, Medicine Hat, AB - Mainliner Pub at 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct 1, Regina, SK - Fat Badger at 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct 2, Brandon, MB - Westman Centennial Auditorium at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Oct 4, Winnipeg, MB - Pyramid Cabaret at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct 5, Kenora, ON - Bob’s Burger Bar at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Oct 6, Thunder Bay, ON - Red Lion Smokehouse at 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct 8, Sudbury, ON - SRO Night Club at 7:30 p.m.
October 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 24 & 25 - The Tranzac Club in Toronto at 8:00 p.m.
Monday & Tuesday, Nov 4 & 5, Whitehorse, YT - The Old Fire Hall at 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, Nov 7, Dawson City, YT - Klondike Institute of Arts and Culture Ballroom at 7:00 p.m.
ABOUT ATG’S LA BOHÈME PRODUCTION
In 2011, AtG made its debut in the Toronto opera scene with an innovative interpretation of Puccini’s classic love story. The Italian libretto was translated into English and updated the 19th-century Parisian Latin-quarter setting to Toronto’s historic Tranzac Club. Our new production keeps the bar setting, but reinvigorates it with a new Canadian cast touring towns and cities across Canada. The majority of the cast are alumni of the Opera in the 21st Century program at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Canada’s largest post graduate arts school.
Meet Les Bobos: the well-known story follows tenor Marcel D’entremont (recent winner of the 2018-19 Wirth Vocal Prize) as Rodolfo, an aspiring screenplay writer with a flighty heart who falls in love with a florist and sewing enthusiast named Mimì, sung by Jonelle Sills. Baritone Clarence Frazer (Canadian Opera Company Ensemble graduate) sings Marcello, an OCAD-trained illustrator whose flirty sweetheart named Musetta, a visual artist (“I don’t paint; I visualize”) sung by soprano Danika Lorèn (COC Ensemble graduate and Musetta at the Canadian Opera Company), is anything but faithful!
Rounding out the cast is baritone Andrew Adridge as street musician Schaunard (always showing up with snacks and cash); bass-baritone GIles Tomkins as Colline (a PhD student); and baritone Greg Finney in the roles of Benoît (the landlord) and Alcindoro (an investment banker).
La Bohème is directed by AtG Founder and Artistic Director Joel Ivany and Music Director David Eliakis at the piano with designs by Adriana Bogaard.
All tour show information is available at www.atgtheatre.com. Toronto performances (October 11-25) take place at the Tranzac Club, 292 Brunswick Avenue, with doors scheduled to open at 7:30 p.m. for an 8:00 p.m. start. The seating is cabaret style, and all tickets are general admission with no assigned seats. Make sure to arrive early and ensure a great seat at “Café Momus” to catch all the romance and action of our 2019 riff on the Puccini classic.
La Bohème is presented in partnership with Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, with hotel sponsors including Hilton and the Prince Arthur Waterfront Hotel.
ABOUT AtG
In December of 2010, Toronto’s opera scene received a jolt of energy with the formation of Against the Grain Theatre (AtG). With a goal to reinvigorate the operatic art form by presenting an eclectic array of musical works in unconventional spaces and innovative ways, AtG staged its first performance to a sold-out audience of 50 people, and with that the company was off and running. Since that first season, AtG has packed every single one of its productions with standing room-only crowds, winning a consistent level of critical and public acclaim, and picking up nine Dora Mavor Moore Awards along the way. The arts community has embraced the AtG, as has a much wider, more diverse audience of people who may have never considered attending an opera. The company has brought free monthly Opera Pubs to its diverse audience, and was the inaugural Company-in-Residence at the Canadian Opera Company. Founded by an adventurous collective of friends and artists, the company’s mission is to preserve the company’s unique ability to be serious in intent and execution, yet fun and irreverent in spirit. Current members include: Joel Ivany, Jonathan MacArthur, Amanda Hadi, Michael Zarathus-Cook, Jason Hand, Miriam Khalil, David Eliakis, Michael Morreale, Michaela Dickey, Madison Angus, and Brenna Hardy-Kavanagh.
For more information, please visit AtG online at www.atgtheatre.com, on Twitter and Instagram @AtGTheatre and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AtGTheatre.