Choose your own adventure!
Options for a comprehensive overview or an engaging deep-dive await on this choose-your-own-adventure style educational resource.
Prepared by Holly Mesarch, El Paso Opera Interim Teaching Artist (2025-26)
Sponsored by J. Kirk & Judy Robison Foundation, Rea Charitable Trust, Hervey Foundation, Texas Women for the Arts.
Men die and governments change, but the songs of La Bohème will live forever.
~Thomas Edison, American inventor, in a letter to Puccini,1920
Some vocabulary you need to know for things to make sense:
Opera
Literal translation: from the Latin root “opus” for labor or work, the Italians used it to indicate an artistic work combining the visual (costumes, props, scenery, lighting) and the auditory (orchestra & voice). It highlights the multifaceted labor that goes into one great work. (See more under "What Is Opera?"
Composer
The person who writes the music for the opera. They work together with the librettist to create (compose) music that both moves the story along, and moves the audience with emotion.
Libretto/Librettist
From the Italian word for book, this person writes the words (lyrics) for the opera. They collaborate with the composer to make sure the story makes sense for the audience.
Aria
Italian for “air”, this is what the Italians called the songs in an opera when opera started over 400 years ago.
Two people=duet
Three people=trio
Four people=quartet
Five people=quintet
A group=tutti (It.), or ensemble (Fr.)
Supertitles
If you’ve ever seen a foreign film or cartoon in its original language, you’ve seen the written translation at the bottom of the screen. Those are subtitles. Sub from the Latin root "under" or "below". When you attend an opera, they are often displayed above the stage. They are then called supertitles. Super from the Latin root "over" or "above."
Print this vocab worksheet before your presentation to explore these important words and their definitions at its conclusion.
S32 Education -Opera Vocab.pdf
Opera is the original multimedia (auditory & visual) art form, combining elaborate visual stimulation via costumes and sets with rich orchestral sounds and brilliant opera singing. The original opera singers in the 1600s didn't have microphones when this art form began. Singers today continue the tradition of singing unamplified by filling concert halls with their trained and powerful voices!
Opera started in Italy with works like Dafne by Jacomo Peri (1597), Euridice also by Peri (1600), and Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi (1607). Because of this, there are a lot of operas sung in Italian. When operas began being composed and performed in England, they were then sung in English. Wherever people fell in love with opera, composers rose to write it in their native languages. Opera spread into Germany, France, and America in the beginning. Today, there are operas in Czech, Russian, Japanese, Filipino, Spanish, and more!
The Making of a Classic
"A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say."
~Italo Calvino, novelist & short-story writer
1845
Henri Murger, a struggling author, lives in Paris as he writes, and publishes a series of short stories in a local literary magazine, Left Bank. He writes about what he knows: the struggles of poverty, being an artist, and friendship.
1849
Playwright Théodore Barrièrre approaches Murger, and together they adapt his stories for the stage. This premieres at the Théâtre des Variétés on November 9, 1849. They have a hit on their hands!
1851
Riding on the popularity of his play adaptation, Murger adds a few more chapters to the end and publishes Scenes de la vie de Boheme as a novel, and enjoys further success. Henry Murger Americanizes the spelling of his name as an affectation.
1896
Decades later, a young Puccini perseveres after losing a composition contest and the poor reception of his opera, Edgar. He works together with librettists Giacosa and Illica for three years before La Bohème opens on February 1 at Teatro Regio.
Who is in an opera?
HKM laboheme.13-14.guide page 5 character list.pdf
The Act I Garret © Tim Trumble/Arizona Opera
ACT I
Christmas Eve, in a tiny room at the top of a house in Paris’s Latin Quarter.
The poet Rodolfo and the painter Marcello feed the stove with pages from Rodolfo’s latest drama, just to stay warm. Their two other roommates arrive: Colline, a philosopher, and the musician Schaunard, who brings food, fuel, and a bit of money—just in time for the landlord, Benoit, to come ask for the rent. But instead of paying, the four get the old man drunk enough to tell tales of his flirtations, then they throw him out, accusing him of cheating on his wife. All but Rodolfo head off to the Café Momus. He wants some time to write. But before he gets started, a pretty neighbor, Mimì, knocks at the door. The draft in the stairway has blown out her candle. Mimì feels faint and stumbles. Rodolfo rouses her with a glass of wine, then helps her to the door and relights her candle. She realizes she doesn’t have her key and must have dropped it when she fainted. As Rodolfo and Mimì look for it, both their candles are extinguished. Rodolfo finds the key—and slips it into his pocket. Then he takes Mimì’s cold hands and tells her of his dreams. She responds by talking about her life and how she sits in her own room, waiting for the spring. Rodolfo’s friends are heard calling from the street, asking him to join them. Happy to have found each other, Mimì and Rodolfo set out for the Café Momus, arm in arm.
Act II Santa Fe Opera © Santa Fe Opera
ACT II
Café Momus and the surrounding streets.
In the crowded streets around the café, vendors are selling their wares. Schaunard is inspecting musical instruments and Colline old books, while Marcello flirts with passing girls. Rodolfo stops to buy Mimì a bonnet. Colline and Schaunard complain about the crowds. Children run by, chasing a man selling toys. Seated at last, the friends tease each other, toast, and chat about love. Marcello’s former girlfriend, Musetta, makes a grand entrance with her new suitor, a rich old man named Alcindoro. Musetta flirts with Marcello. When the embarrassed Alcindoro tries to stop her, she sends him to buy her a new pair of shoes, then promptly hooks up with Marcello. The bill arrives and Musetta leaves it for Alcindoro to pay. A military guard marches by and the crowd, including Rodolfo, Mimì, and their friends, falls in behind
Act III Designed by David P. Gordan © Sarasota Opera
Act III
A tavern at the gates of Paris.
On a snowy morning a few weeks later, Mimì comes to a tavern at the gates of the city, looking for Marcello, who lives there with Musetta. Marcello comes out to meet her, but she won’t go in, because Rodolfo is inside too. Mimì says Rodolfo’s jealousy has become unbearable: they need to break up. She is coughing badly. Marcello sees Rodolfo coming over and Mimì pretends to leave but hides instead. Now Rodolfo tells Marcello he needs to break up with Mimì. He says he’s bored with her, but before long admits that he’s worried his freezing apartment is making her sicker than ever. He blames himself for Mimì’s illness. Mimì, who has overheard it all, comes forward and says goodbye to Rodolfo. Meanwhile Marcello gets into a fight with Musetta over her flirtatious behavior and they part. But Mimì and Rodolfo, still plainly and painfully in love, decide to stay together at least until spring.
ACT IV
Rodolfo’s apartment in the Latin Quarter.
Months have passed, and Rodolfo and Mimì are separated. He and Marcello are back in their old apartment, trying to work, talking about their ex-girlfriends as if they didn’t care. Colline and Schaunard come in with a meager dinner, and the four pretend to feast like nobles, dance, and stage a mock duel. Their game is cut short when Musetta rushes in, followed by Mimì, who is by now seriously ill. The men prepare a bed. Marcello and Musetta go off to buy a muff to keep Mimì’s hands warm. Colline decides to pawn his old overcoat for money to help her and leaves with Schaunard. Alone at last with Mimì, Rodolfo produces the bonnet he bought her by the Café Momus. The others return, bringing the muff and a bit to drink. They have summoned a doctor as well. Mimì seems to fall asleep, but Schaunard notices the sad truth: she has died. The opera ends with Rodolfo’s cry of grief.
Additional Activities for the Classroom & BEYOND!
Illustration by Sophie Hogarth © The Metropolitan Opera
Suitable for middle school, high school, and college-level students.
Active listening, critical thinking, and respectful dialogue (even when we disagree about something) are learned skills. In order to improve, we must practice! Philosophical Chairs is designed to help us develop these skills while also learning about the opera.
Access HERE.
Atlanta Opera's La Bohème (2024)
Suitable for high school and college-level students.
Click here to access.
Suitable for ages 10+, general education classes, homeschool groups, choir classes, orchestra classes, band classes, youth groups, music studios, and youth clubs.
Learn more HERE.
