Of course, I mean La Bohème, first done by the increasingly sophisticated Rimrock Opera Company in 2005 and repeated last weekend. According to Wikipedia it is the second most often performed opera in the USA. Once every five years is probably about right as it takes that long to recover from Mimi's premature death. That is a quick unofficial photo of the poster to the left.

This was a well-done performance, especially the singing of Billings' soprano Amy Logan as Mimi. She hits the high notes with clarity but my  favorite is the fullness of her middle and lower register. What a big voice.

In addition to Logan's singing, she also brought along some well-behaved and talented kids from R.O.C.K. (Rimrock Opera Chorus for Kids) and some Skyview High School instrumental musicians to add to the merriment and confusion of the outdoor scene in Act II.

The baritones and tenors and the other soprano all did well of course. No wonder this is a favorite. Just good singing and joking around at the beginning and then the sad ending. Everybody likes Disease mixed with Desire and the occasional Death of one of the favorites.

One of the differences in this performance was three supernumerary roles played by Jane Van Dyk, Finn Carlson and the astoundingly generous Henrietta Johnstone. The last has provided us with great costumes and sets for some years now. She deserved the part of grande dame. Doug Nagel as General Director should be congratulated every time we see him.

To the right is a portion of our refrigerator. The magnets of the official posters are crowding out much of the rest of our fridge art. The Merry Widow is coming up again this fall and then Tosca in spring 2011. These will be splendid again I'm sure. Get your tickets early.