Arizona Opera 2019-20 Review: La Bohème

In Phoenix on January 24, 2020, Arizona Opera presented Giacomo Puccini, Luigi Illica, and Giuseppe Giacosa’s popular opera “La Bohème.” Illica and Giacosa wrote the opera’s libretto and I agree with modern writers that librettists deserve as much credit as composers. When the curtain opened, Stage Director Paul and Scenic Designer Peter Dean Beck gave us a two-level garret that would return for the last act. In it he did not use what I guess was merely a sleeping loft on the upper level. This construction is actually part of a most effective unit set that formed the second act hillside street, and the third act gate.