Since 1958, Houston Grand Opera has mounted Puccini’s perennial masterpiece in 13 seasons, staged by nine separate directors. Trace the work’s history at HGO with these standout performances from the past seven decades.
Conductor: Walter Herbert
Director: Armando Agnini
Principals: Maria Di Gerlando, Ruth Carter, Louis Roney, William Shriner
Trivia: The company’s first Bohème—sung in English—featured the HGO mainstage debut of legendary bass-baritone Norman Treigle in the role of Colline.
Conductor: Walter Herbert
Director: James de Blasis
Principals: Teresa Stratas, Maralin Niska, Carlo Cossutta, Richard Fredricks
Trivia: Making her first and only HGO appearance, Stratas overcame a case of laryngitis to perform, in the words of the Houston Chronicle, the “most perfectly attuned and ringingly communicative Mimì this company has had.”
Conductor: Charles Rosekrans
Director: Patrick Bakman
Principals: Joanna Bruno, Barrie Smith, William Harness, Richard Stilwell
Trivia: The Houston Post praised bass-baritone James Morris’s “exquisitely restrained” rendition of Colline’s Coat Aria, “Vecchia zimarra.” The cast dedicated their performance to another great HGO Colline, Norman Treigle, who had passed away just before opening night.
Conductor: Hal France
Director: Jean-Pierre Ponnelle
Principals: Mirella Freni, Julia Migenes-Johnson, Luis Lima, Brent Ellis
Trivia: Freni was, as the Houston Chronicle described her, “the superb Mimì of our time”—the soprano’s 1972 recording of Bohème with Pavarotti remains the gold standard to this day. She made her mainstage HGO debut in Ponnelle’s visionary production.
Conductor: Vjekoslav Sutej
Director: Herbert Ross
Principals: Cecilia Gasdia, Stella Zambalis, Vincenzo La Scola, Frank Hernandez
Trivia: Ross, also a film director (Footloose, Steel Magnolias), updated the action to the 1890s. The set was dominated by a still-under-construction Eiffel Tower, and the bohemians made their Act II escape by automobile.
Conductor: Patrick Summers
Director: James Robinson
Prinipals: Ana María Martínez, Albina Shagimuratova, Garrett Sorenson, Joshua Hopkins
Trivia: Robinson set his Bohème against the backdrop of World War I. A critic for ConcertoNet wrote that Martínez, who also starred in the 2002 HGO run of Robinson’s production, “etch[ed] herself into our hearts as one of the most memorable of Mimìs.” You can hear her sing “Somewhere” in this season’s West Side Story!
Conductor: Patrick Summers
Director: John Caird
Principals: Nicole Heaston, Pureum Jo, Ivan Magrì, Michael Sumuel
Trivia: HGO’s 2025 Bohème revives Caird’s beloved 2012 production, which features a set constructed from painted canvases. This second run in 2018 boasted a cast of young-artist alumni from the company’s Butler Studio.