Opera Company of Philadelphia • October 12, 16, 18, 21, 25, 1998 at the Academy of Music
Scenic and Lighting Design: Boyd Ostroff • Director: Robert B. Driver • Costume Design: Richard St. Clair • Hair and Makeup Design: Tom Watson • Conductor: Maurizio Barbacini
Marcello: John Packard • Rodolpho: Stuart Neill • Colline: Peter Volpe • Schaunard: LeRoy Villanueva • Benoit: John Davies • Mimi: Stella Zamballis • Musetta: Heather Dials
“As familiar as La Boheme is, this is the first OCP production in eight seasons. Local audiences have, however, been afforded several opportunities to experience the work in the past several years, in stagings from Curtis, Center City Opera Theater and AVA. For whatever the work gained in intimacy in each of these smaller-scale productions, this new OCP version far surpasses the competition in sheer grand opera drama. This is a luxurious and exceedingly pretty La Boheme, with lively and smart set designs by Boyd Ostroff and a flow of action, as directed by Robert Driver, that takes full advantage of the ample space. There is an elegance and richness here that only a big-budget production can achieve; it is an easy pleasure to drink it in.” -Peter Burwasser, Philadelphia City Paper, 11/1/2006
” Instead of realizing a garret in three dimensions, designer Boyd Ostroff of the Opera Company of Philadelphia provides only the essential structures and the outlines of a room. Icons from intellectual movements in the visual arts of nineteenth-century Paris (Impressionism generally, Toulouse-Lautrec, and lithography) hang freely in the empty space, rendering an otherwise indefinite artistic preoccupation. In this regard, the elements of the design that violate verisimilitude seem most closely aligned with the aesthetic perspective of the opera’s principal characters—who are themselves self-consciously avant-garde, as suggested by the title.” – William Eggert, The Yale Herald, 1/28/2000
Design Evolution
Final Design Sketches
Production Photos
Backstage Photos
Design and Technical Drawings
Production Staff (1998)
Director of Production: Boyd Ostroff • Asst Production Director: Shima Orans • Props Coordinator: Cindy Felice • Lighting Coordinator: Mike Voytko • Costume Director: Richard St. Clair • Stage Manager: Margo Maier • Asst Stage Managers: Lori Aghazarian, Maya Choldin • Asst Director: Ulrike Shapiro • Technical Production Intern/Draftsman: Joshua Krall
Technical Director: John Callahan • Properties Master: Lou Petrucci, Jr • Master Electrician: Michael Hennessy • Asst Electrician: WIlliam Hennessy • Flyman: Timothy Callahan
Shop Carpenters: John Callahan, TImothy Callahan, Paul Lodes, Thomas Bowen, William Ringland, Jeffrey Moore, Matthew McIntyre
Scenic Artists: Krzystof Bratun, Sarah Baptist, Keith Hockins, Karen Tennant
Scenery Data
- Built Jul-Aug, 1998 at the Opera Company of Philadelphia Production Center / Frankford Arsenal
- Scenery construction budget: $81,958 • Actual cost: $77,512 • Total rental income: $53,000 as of May 2011
- Load-in crew: 18 • Run Crew: 18 (carpenters, flymen and props only) • 8 hours required for load-in • 1 truck required for shipping
- Current status unknown
La Bohème – revival
Opera Company of Philadelphia • October 27, 29, November 1, 3, 5, 11, 2006 at the Academy of Music
Scenic Design: Boyd Ostroff • Director: Robert B. Driver • Lighting Design: Ruth Hutson • Costume Design: Richard St. Clair • Hair and Makeup Design: Tom Watson • Conductor: Corrado Rovaris
Marcello: Troy Cook • Rodolpho: Roger Honeywell • Colline: Richard Bernstein • Schaunard: Alexander Tall • Benoit: Kevin Glavin • Mimi: Ermonella Jaho • Musetta: Sari Gruber
Production Photos (2006)
Backstage Photos (2006)
Production Staff (2006)
Director of Design and Technology: Boyd Ostroff • Production Manager: Gregory Prioleu • Props Coordinator: Cindy Felice • Lighting Coordinator: Drew Billiau • Costume Director: Richard St. Clair • Stage Manager: Kerry Masek • Asst Stage Managers: Valerie Clatworthy, Janet Neukirchner • Asst to the Lighting Designer: Shelley Hicklin • Asst Director: Seth Hoff
Technical Director: John Callahan • Properties Master: Paul Lodes • Master Electrician: David Cecil • Asst Electrician: William Hennessy • Flyman: Timothy Callahan
Shop Carpenters: David McIntyre, Roland Reed, Steven Paul, Timothy Callahan, Michael Ruffo,
Scenic Artists: Jonanna Dinella, Vanessa Fenton, Michelle Connoly
Props Artists: Jonanna Dinella, Meredith Rapkin
La Boheme on YouTube (videography by Boyd Ostroff for the Opera Company of Philadelphia)
Production History
Opera Company of Philadelphia • October 12, 16, 18, 21, 25, 1998 (premiere) at the Academy of Music • Scenic and Lighting Design: Boyd Ostroff • Director: Robert B. Driver • Costume Design: Richard St. Clair • Hair and Makeup Design: Tom Watson • Conductor: Maurizio Barbacini
Yale Opera • January 28, 29, 30, 2000 • Scenic Design: Boyd Ostroff • Director: Joshua Major • Lighting Design: William Warfel • Conductor: Anton Coppola
Opera Birmingham • October 20, 22, 2001 • Scenic Design: Boyd Ostroff • Conductor: John Di Constanzo
Orlando Opera • March 21, 23, 26, 28, 2002 • Scenic Design: Boyd Ostroff • Director: Michael Capasso • Lighting Design: Susan Roth • Conductor: Paul Nadler
Indianapolis Opera • May 2, 3, 4, 2003 • Scenic Design: Boyd Ostroff • Director: Joshua Major • Conductor: James Caraher
Opera Company of Philadelphia • October 27, 29, November 1, 3, 5, 11, 2006 at the Academy of Music • Scenic Design: Boyd Ostroff • Director: Robert B. Driver • Lighting Design: Ruth Hutson • Costume Design: Richard St. Clair • Hair and Makeup Design: Tom Watson • Conductor: Corrado Rovaris
Syracuse Opera • October 23, 25, 2009 • Scenic Design: Boyd Ostroff • Director: Joseph Bascetta • Conductor: Douglas Kinney-Frost