Love Has Never Been More Lyrical: CCM Presents 'La Boheme' May 15-18

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) 2007-08 Mainstage Series concludes with Giacomo Puccini's brilliant opera

LA BOHEME

. Performances take place in CCM's Corbett Auditorium May 15 through May 18.

La Boheme is Puccini's glorious love letter to romance, tragedy and the Bohemian life. Four free-spirited artists live together in humble surroundings in 19th-century Paris. When Rodolfo, the poet, and the seamstress Mimi meet in a candlelit encounter, sparks fly. Over the next year, Rodolfo, Mimi and their circle of friends experience love, longing, jealousy and, ultimately, heartbreaking loss.

Guest director Chuck Hudson has worked with CCM students to create a twist on the traditional opera. "We are 'updating' the show to the Paris of the 1890s Belle Epoque," he says. "Auguste Rodin and Camille Claudel are sculpting, her brother Paul Claudel is writing, Isadora Duncan is dancing, Gordon Craig is revolutionizing theater, the Vienna Secession Movement is replacing The Impressionists, and Gustav Eiffel is constructing his famous tower for the Paris World's Fair."

One of the most performed operas in the world, the timeless story of La Boheme continues to inspire new artistic works 112 years after its 1896 premiere, including the musical theater sensation Rent and a 2002 Tony-nominated Broadway version of La Boheme by visionary film director Baz Luhrmann (Simply Ballroom, Moulin Rouge).

Tickets are $15-27 and can be ordered online at www.ccm.uc.edu or by calling the CCM Box Office at 513-556-4183. Parking is available in the CCM Garage (at the base of Corry Boulevard off Jefferson Avenue) and additional garages throughout the University of Cincinnati campus.

MARK GIBSON Conductor
Mark Gibson, director of orchestral studies, serves as music director of the CCM Philharmonia Orchestra and heads CCM's program in orchestral conducting. He has served as co-artistic director and conductor of the Opera Theatre and Music Festival of Lucca in Italy, music director of the Ashlawn/Highland Summer Festival and music director of the New York City Opera National Company. Gibson has led productions with opera companies in New York, Dallas and Cleveland, as well as at Minnesota Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, New Orleans Opera and Opera Pacific. He has also conducted the symphony orchestras of Jacksonville, Quad Cities, Sioux City, Bochum (Germany) and Shenzhen (China), as well as the Minnesota Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Rochester Philharmonic. He has appeared frequently at the summer festivals of Chautauqua (New York) and Spoleto USA (Charleston, S.C.).

Prior to joining the faculty of CCM, he was principal conductor of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, a regular guest conductor with the New York City Opera and resident conductor of the Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona). Last season he debuted with the Qingdao Symphony in China. In May 2006, Gibson returned for his third production at the Seoul Opera House, where he conducted Madame Butterfly. He has been invited to serve as a guest professor of conducting at the Central Conservatory of Music (Beijing), the Hochschule fŸr Musik und Theater (Munich), the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, the Escola Superior de Musica de Batalunya and as visiting professor of conducting and ensembles at Eastman School of Music. Gibson is co-author of the seventh and most recent edition of The Modern Conductor.

CHUCK HUDSON Director
Based in New York City, Chuck Hudson has directed opera productions at major international companies, including The Minnesota Opera, Cape Town Opera (South Africa), Florida Grand Opera, Seattle Opera, San Francisco Opera Center, Wolf Trap Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Connecticut Opera and Shreveport Opera. He has directed award-winning theater productions in New York and regionally, including The Pearl Theatre, The Children's Theatre Festival of Houston, New City Theatre and Chicago's Fox Valley Shakespeare Festival. Hudson's 2002 off-Broadway production of She Stoops to Conquer received a Joe A. Callaway Award from the Actors Equity Association.

In addition to directing, Hudson continues to focus on his work with young professional artists. He is a co-creator of Seattle Opera's Young Artist Program, where he directed productions and created and instructed specialized classes on acting and movement techniques for singers. He was a professor at the University Of Houston School Of Theatre, at Cornish College of the Arts, and is an annual adjunct faculty artist at North Carolina School of the Arts Theatre Department and Fletcher Opera Institute. Hudson also uses his extensive experience as a performer, director and coach in his many master classes and private coaching sessions at various professional artist training programs for singers and actors. He has directed productions at San Francisco Opera's Merola Program, AVA Opera Theater, BU Opera Institute, USC-Thornton Opera and Manhattan School of Music Opera Theater. While directing La Boheme, Hudson has also been a guest professor of advanced acting at CCM, and he will be a guest stage director at Indiana University Opera Theatre in 2009. For seven years Hudson was the artistic director of Seattle's The Immediate Theatre, a physically based company committed to the creation of visually exciting dramatic works.

Hudson's specialty in movement comes from a background in gymnastics, as well as being one of three Americans to have received a diploma from the Marcel Marceau International School of Mimedrama in Paris. He is the only American to be appointed to teach at Marceau's School, and he performed with Marceau on his 1991 European Tour and in Klaus Kinski's film Paganini. His website is www.chdirector.com.
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University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music
MAINSTAGE SERIES

LA BOHEME

Composed by Giacomo Puccini
Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa
Mark Gibson, conductor
Chuck Hudson, guest director

La Boheme is Puccini's glorious love letter to romance, tragedy and the Bohemian life. Four free-spirited artists live together in humble surroundings in 19th-century Paris. When Rodolfo, the poet, and the seamstress Mimi meet in a candlelit encounter, sparks fly. Over the next year, Rodolfo, Mimi and their circle of friends experience love, longing, jealousy and, ultimately, heartbreaking loss. The inspiration for the Broadway sensation Rent, La Boheme brims with intoxicating melodies, intriguing characters and a truly affecting love story.

Sung in Italian with projected English supertitles.

Performance Dates:
May 15-18, 2008
* Thursday, May 15, 8 p.m.
* Friday, May 16, 8 p.m.
* Saturday, May 17, 8 p.m.
* Sunday, May 18, 2:30 p.m.

Location:
Corbett Auditorium
University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music

Tickets & Ordering Information:
$15-27 | Order online at www.ccm.uc.edu or call the CCM Box Office at 513-556-4183.

Additional Information:
www.ccm.uc.edu