History (click here for performances by season)

Early Years

Within its first five main stage seasons, Boheme developed its traditional and inviting opera fare, offering growing audiences pre-curtain talks, projected English supertitles, original sets and costumes, casting of accomplished artists from the rosters of major U.S. companies and abroad, collaborative classic ballet sequences and open invited dress rehearsals. During these fledgling years, the company also established a template for educational outreach, which developed its High School Apprenticeship Program, Backstage Tours, on-site Opera Friendly visitations and college course presentations. During this period, the Company established its new home at the Patriots Theater of the War Memorial in Trenton.

Highlights of this era include:

1982: Outdoor production of I Pagliacci
1983-1985: Capital City Concert Series in the Mill Hill Playhouse
1983-1987: Festival appearances at the popular Feast of Lights in Chambersburg
1986-1987: Staged dinner opera at Roman Hall in Chambersburg in 1986 (Cavalleria Rusticana) and in 1987 (I Pagliacci)
1988: "An Evening at La Scala" gala concert at Bristol Riverside Theater
1989: Inaugural season as a producer of opera theater in the NJ-PA region; first production of Verdi's La Traviata was performed in both Trenton Central High School and in Truman High School in Bristol, PA.

Maturing Years

In 1994, Boheme Opera NJ temporarily moved its main stage to Villa Victoria Academy in Ewing, where the Company spent five seasons further building audiences while the War Memorial received a long-awaited facelift and restoration. The Company continued to hone its craft on stage, while increasing subscription and group sales and addressing new accessibilities.

The early months of the momentous turn of the century marked the debut of Boheme's premier educational initiative Inside Opera, a curriculum-based middle and high school program that has served over 7,500 students in Mercer, Burlington and Monmouth Counties.

Today

In recent seasons, Boheme Opera NJ has shown its stage versatility by presenting works that embody the spectacle of opera, but are not recognized as traditional opera:

• The American opera Susannah, by Carlisle Floyd
• Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story (which received American Masterpiece Program funding from the National Endowment for the Arts)
• The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan

West Side Story exemplified Boheme Opera NJ's goal of broadening its programming to cultivate a new generation of prospective opera goers. The Company gave a free daytime performance of the production to over 1,100 students from 17 schools and education groups in 5 different NJ counties and Bucks County, PA. While economic and entertainment trends are changing, the Company is seeking avenues to attract younger and more diverse audiences. It recently facilitated an accredited college internship opportunity with Mercer County Community College for students pursuing careers in opera and theater. The Company also continues to offer professional experience to young choristers, emerging artists, and professional designers and directors.