Pacific Opera Project Reprises Hit Production of Puccini's 'La bohème,' AKA 'The Hipsters,' AKA 'La Brew-hème' at Two LA Breweries in December

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Katlyn Morahan | Morahan Arts and Media
katlyn@morahanartsandmedia.com | 646-378-9386

PACIFIC OPERA PROJECT REPRISES HIT
PRODUCTION OF PUCCINI’S LA BOHÈME:
AKA “THE HIPSTERS,” AKA “LA BREW-HÈME,”
AT TWO LOS ANGELES BREWERIES IN DECEMBER

Performance at Benny Boy Brewing on Dec. 12,
Angel City Brewing on Dec. 13 & 14

www.pacificoperaproject.com

Los Angeles, CA (November 1, 2022) — Pacific Opera Project (POP) adds three new performances to its 2022-2023 season with a reprisal of their hit production of Puccini’s La bohème AKA “The Hipsters,” and now AKA “La Brew-hème”, at two Los Angeles breweries on Monday, December 12, 2022 at 7:00pm outdoors at Benny Boy Brewing and on Tuesday, December 13, 2022 at 8:00pm and Wednesday, December 14, 2022 at 8:00pm at Angel City Brewing.

A Los Angeles holiday tradition, an 1830s Parisian garret becomes a present day Los Angeles loft apartment during a particularly cold SoCal winter. Sung in Italian with “cleverly ironic” English titles, La Brew-hème is led by Music Director Zach Neufeld, and directed by POP Artistic Director Josh Shaw. LA's housing crisis comes to life on stage as the artist, poet, philosopher, musician, and seamstress become a graphic designer, screenplay writer, English major, indie-rocker, and fashion designer dealing with the timeless issues of life, love, jealousy, and overdue bills. This production is the inspiration behind POP’s signature logo, “Hipster Puccini.”

Cast members include Arnold Livingston Geis (Rodolfo), Janet Szepei Todd (Mimi), Joel Balzun (Marcello), Katherine Powers (Musetta), E. Scott Levin (Schaunard), Keith Colclough (Colline), and Luvi Avendano (Benoit/Parpignol/Alcindoro).

Tickets for the December 12 performance at Benny Boy Brewing are only $20 and include guaranteed seating and a drink ticket. The December 13 and 14 performances at Angel City Brewing are free admission with first come, first served seating available; reservations are encouraged.

Additional productions in Pacific Opera Project’s 2022-23 season include the U.S. premiere production of a rare Vivaldi opera, Ercole Su’l Termodonte, with a period orchestra from January 6 to 21, 2023 at The Highland Park Ebell Club; The Magic Flute AKA #Superflute, set in classic video games from the early 1990s from March 17 to 26, 2023 at El Portal Theater; and Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance from May 19 to 28, 2023 outdoors on the lawn at the Heritage Square Museum.

Performance Details
La bohème AKA "The Hipsters" AKA "La Brew-hème"
Pacific Opera Project
Monday, December 12, 2022 at 7:00pm
Benny Boy Brewing | 1821 Daly St. | Los Angeles, CA 90031
Tickets: $20 on sale November 1 (ticket includes guaranteed seat and drink ticket)
Ticket Link: https://www.pacificoperaproject.com/la-boheme

Valet parking available

Tuesday, December 13, 2022 at 8:00pm
Wednesday, December 14, 2022 at 8:00pm
Angel City Brewing | 216 Alameda St. | Los Angeles, CA 90012
Tickets: FREE (seating first come, first served). Reservations are encouraged at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pacific-opera-project-presents-la-boheme-aka-the-hipsters-tickets-440556455217

Paid parking lots are located on the block and a limited amount of street parking is also available.

Cast
Arnold Livingston Geis - Rodolfo
Janet Szepei Todd - Mimi
Joel Balzun - Marcello
Katherine Powers - Musetta
E. Scott Levin - Schaunard
Keith Colclough - Colline
Luvi Avendano - Benoit/Parpignol/Alcindoro
Music Director - Zach Neufeld

About Pacific Opera Project
Founded in 2011, Los Angeles’s Pacific Opera Project (POP) is dedicated to providing quality opera that is accessible, affordable, and entertaining. POP hosts hundreds of new opera-goers each season, while welcoming back a growing number of opera enthusiasts, producing close to 50 operas in just over 11 seasons. POP’s productions have reached over 40,000 audience members, including 5,000 children through its critically acclaimed productions of Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio with Star Trek themes, and Magic Flute themed as a 1980s video game.

To connect with contemporary audiences, POP creates custom translations for foreign-language shows, transforming the libretto with a modern vernacular. Championing accessibility as a pillar of the organization’s structure, POP offers low ticket prices and livestreams its productions to the public for free. As a leader in innovative programming during the pandemic, POP offered 26 performances of live opera outdoors from 2020 to 2021 with The LA Times noting that a POP production was “the first major musical or theatrical event in Los Angeles Country presented for a live audience in nearly 14 months”.

POP has experienced fast and organic audience growth over the past decade. In 2021, POP established an engagement department and designed an in-school program for elementary students, which has resulted in the organization’s current presence in fifteen Title-I classrooms. POP additionally partners with the National Federation of the Blind, developing a curriculum for blind youth and delivering many of its concert programs in Braille with audio descriptions of stage action during performances.

Learn more at www.pacificoperaproject.com.

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