In Act III, the inn is a small ramshackle affair in the lower right-hand corner of another massive but stunning set. And the rest of the production is equally magnificent. By the end of the act, the audience had interrupted three more times with applause for the Zeffirelli spectacle - which culminated in a huge parade, bringing some 240 people on the Met stage.įor those who think it too busy and overblown, imagine a Paris at Christmas with a mere handful of people on stage! The 'confusion' Zeffirelli creates is masterfully controlled.

A huge staircase is on the audience's left, the chorus milling around above the indoor Momus, and there is another large staircase in the back right-hand corner of the set. The set is on three levels, with the Café Momus on the 'ground' level receding back under the set. Rarely has the Met stage been more brilliantly used. Stage designer-director Zeffirelli has quite literally recreated a typical Montmartre hill street in Paris, circa 1840. When the curtain rose on the second act of Franco Zeffirelli's new production of 'La Bohème' at the Metropolitan Opera, the audience erupted in a roar of acclaim, amazement, and even disbelief - a roar that went on for nearly a minute.

La Bohème received twenty performances this season. īenefit sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera Guild

Met opera cafe