I Have Lived This Story
Not in 19th-century Paris, but in cramped apartments, borrowed rooms, shared houses, and makeshift creative spaces where rent was always due and money was always tight. I have been part of communities where artists clung to one another, not just for inspiration, but for survival. Where love, friendship, and creativity were the only things we had in abundance.
That is why La Bohème hits so close to home.
At its core, this opera is not about grand stages or high society. It is about artists who are hungry, passionate, and deeply in love with both their craft and each other. It is about people trying to make something beautiful while the world keeps reminding them how expensive it is to simply exist.
What La Bohème Is Really About
La Bohème is set in Paris in the 1830s and follows a group of young artists living on the margins of society. They are writers, painters, and musicians trying to create meaningful work while struggling to pay rent, stay warm, and hold onto love in an unforgiving world.
The story centers on friendships that feel more like family, romances that burn bright and fast, and the reality that talent and passion do not protect you from hardship. It shows how joy and suffering often live side by side, especially when money is scarce and time feels fragile.
The opera was composed by Giacomo Puccini, one of the most beloved opera composers of all time. Puccini was known for telling deeply human stories focused on everyday people rather than royalty or myth. His music leans into emotion in a direct, honest way, making his operas approachable even for those seeing one for the first time.
Beyond La Bohème, Puccini wrote some of the most frequently performed operas in the world, including Tosca, one of my favorites Madama Butterfly, and Turandot. Each explores love, sacrifice, injustice, and hope through intensely personal stories. That ability to make private struggles feel universal is why Puccini’s work still resonates more than a century later.
Even though the opera was written over a century ago, its themes feel unmistakably current in the United States today. Rising costs of living, unstable creative careers, and the constant balancing act between survival and purpose are realities many people are facing right now. La Bohème does not romanticize poverty. It simply tells the truth about it, and about the love and resilience that grow in spite of it.
I See This Story All Around El Paso
As an artist, I have lived that tension between creating and surviving. The late nights, the shared meals, the laughter that hides stress, and the quiet fear about what comes next.
But beyond my own experience, I see this story unfolding all around me right now, especially here in El Paso.
El Paso is a city full of creatives who know how to stretch a dollar, lean on community, and keep going anyway. Musicians, writers, painters, performers, and dreamers building something meaningful with limited resources and a lot of heart. Families and chosen families coming together to make the most of what they have. That resilience is not theoretical here. It is lived every day.
If You Have Ever Lived This, This Story Is for You
If you have ever shared a meal because it was all there was. If you have ever stayed in a place longer than you should have because it held the people you loved. If you have ever chased something beautiful while wondering how long you could afford to keep chasing it, then this story is for you too.
What makes La Bohème feel especially powerful right now is that so many people are living it in real time. Most of us are doing more with less. Many are struggling just to stay afloat. And yet, love, art, and community keep showing up anyway.
That is not an old story. That is a present-day one.
A Perfect Way to Start the Year in El Paso
El Paso Opera is bringing La Bohème to the Sun City, and it feels like the perfect way to begin the year with something meaningful. Not culture for culture’s sake, but a story that reflects the lives of the people sitting in the audience.
The production opens its limited run on January 30, with four additional performances through February 7. Whether this is your first opera or your fiftieth, this is an opportunity to experience a story that feels deeply human, deeply local, and deeply now.
I have lived this story. I have witnessed others living it. And when you see La Bohème, there is a good chance you will recognize parts of your own life in it too.
The IMPOSTERS Vol. 3 Selection Party
Volume 1 brought 19 artists, Volume 2 brought 30 artists. The next volume of the IMPOSTERS brings over 50 artists to join this amazing new art show where local artists adopt each others styles and get out of their comfort zones. All put together by local art icon, JayD Viz!
Gallery Credit: Grizz
El Paso’s Premier Open Mic Night
The Barbed Wire Open Mic Series is El Paso’s biggest open mic! Recognized with an official day by the city of El Paso, BWOMS travels to venues all over the city offering opportunities for musicians, writers, and performers of all kinds to find a home on stage.
Gallery Credit: Grizz
Monteleones Back Alley Stakehouse And Dinner Theater in El Paso!
Gary Monteleone runs a series of themed restaurants here in El Paso and one of them offers an amazing murder mystery dinner theater experience where the audience gets to participate by investigating clues left by the cast, guessing who the killer was, and enjoying a pretty decent meal!
Gallery Credit: Grizz