May 3–10, 2001

arts picks|opera

La Boheme

Joel Silberman

The last time Joel Silberman was in Philly he was crooning "Sunny Side of the Street" for the AMTF cabaret series at the Hotel Atop the Bellevue. Now he’s back, but in a markedly different capacity — as director of opera divos singing "Che gelida manina" for the Academy of Vocal Arts’ new production of Giacomo Puccini’s La Boheme.

The fact that Silberman is an award-winning cabaret performer and accomplished theatrical producer/ director might lead you to expect his production of Boheme to take some staging cues from Rent, the Broadway hit the Puccini opera inspired. On the contrary, this will be more like an anti-Rent. Silberman sees Rent’s characterizations as being all wrong.

"They’re shown as losers, people with no futures, druggies," says Silberman. "But the Bohemians of Murger’s novel and Puccini’s opera are the up-and-coming poets and painters of 19th-century Paris. They’re excited by the future. Their neighbors look up to them. When they appear at the Café Momus in Act 2, they’re the stars, the center of attention. That makes Mimi’s death even more poignant."

This is Silberman’s debut as an opera director, but he’s been teaching operatic acting classes for the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He also coaches opera singers such as Met star Renee Fleming. Even during his rehearsals of Boheme, Silberman was shuttling back and forth. He was asked at the last minute to write a soprano-and-piano arrangement of "America the Beautiful" for Fleming and Jean-Yves Thibaudet to perform at a Manhattan benefit last Monday which was attended by both Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton.

Operatic musical directors must work from the outside in, telling the performers exactly what notes to sing and how long to hold each note, Silberman points out. "I work in the opposite direction, from the inside out. At my first rehearsal I ask the performers to speak their lines, not sing them. That way they feel their parts from inside. Everyone knows how well these AVA students can sing. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how well they can act, too."

— Steve Cohen

Sat., May 5, Tue., May 8 and Thu., May 10, 8 p.m., Academy of Vocal Arts, Helen Corning Warden Theater, 1920 Spruce St.; Sat., May 12, 8 p.m., Central Bucks East Auditorium, Holicong; Tue., May 15 and Thu., May 17, 8 p.m.Centennial Hall, Haverford; Tickets $35; $27 for seniors and students, 215-735-1685.