La bohème: The Original Inspiration for Rock Musical Rent

Lit candles, love at first sight, frigid apartments, and fighting against poverty: Giacomo Puccini’s opera classic La bohème directly inspired Jonathan Larson’s rock musical masterpiece Rent, leading the two shows to share many similarities, including music, plot points, and even character names. Taking direct inspiration from La bohème, Jonathan Larson revitalized the theater scene while making several opera fans out of those who sought out the original story.

Set in the 1800s in Paris amidst the winter chill, La bohème features close friends Rodolfo, a poet, and Marcello, a painter, living in their freezing apartment as struggling artists. Joined by their friends Colline and Schaunard, the friends are able to avoid the scrutiny of landlord Benoit before heading off into the Christmas Eve night. Rodolfo stays back to finish his writing and is left awestruck by his neighbor Mimì, who stumbles in asking for someone to light her candle. The two immediately fall in love and spend the rest of the story securing their love against the hardships of change.

Similarly, Rent features equally struggling and freezing artists Roger, a musician, and Mark, a filmmaker, living in New York City during the AIDs crisis in 1989. Staying behind on a night out to finish his “one great song,” Roger meets and falls for sickly neighbor Mimi, who like him, is living with AIDs. Joined by friends Collins, Angel Schunard, and others, the ensemble cast fight against the death of the Bohemian lifestyle and form a family of their own over the course of one calendar year.

One such fan of both Rent and La bohème is Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’ very own Social Media & Content Strategy Manager, Macy White. One of White’s favorite aspects of Rent is its ensemble cast, featuring characters such as Roger, Mark, Mimi, and Collins who mirror Rodolfo, Marcello, Mimì, and Colline in La bohème.

“With a group of characters like that, it’s easy to find many moments of connection throughout the story, sympathizing with their artistic struggles, feeling for them in their pursuits for love, and more,” said White.

A character that White is especially excited to see depicted in this new production of La bohème is Schaunard, the equivalent of Angel from Rent. While this character has a significantly smaller role in La bohème, the emotional journey that he experiences is what piques White’s interest the most about this adaptation of the character.

“This character starts the show in good spirits, having experienced some great luck, but as the story progresses, they fall on harder and harder times,” White added. “Watching performers take this emotional journey can be so moving to audiences, and I think it’s a very relatable story line. I’m excited to see how this character will portray this arc in the setting and era chosen for this production.”

This production has updated La bohème from its original 1800s setting to the 1950s, with only a few additions (such as time-appropriate technology or electricity) being added for the decade-long difference in setting. Despite this change — and the decades that La bohème has been performed — the opera remains incredibly timeless and resonant for an audience today.

“When I experienced La bohème in the past, I loved how even though it was set in the late 1800s, the themes and characters still connect with audiences today,” White exclaimed. “The themes of love, passion, art, and the struggles of youth are timeless.”

The opera’s timelessness is one aspect of why its story and themes translated so effortlessly into Rent. Whether it’s 1800s Paris or 1990s New York City, key moments and characters remain fan favorites regardless of the setting or time that they inhabit. One such moment is the meet-cute between Rodolfo and Mimì, which begins with the duet “Oh! sventata, sventata!” in La bohème and the musical number “Light My Candle” in Rent.

“The candle lighting scene…is one of the most easily identifiable moments in Rent that was adapted from La bohème and seeing how similar-yet-different the adaptations of this moment can be is always interesting,” White remarked. “In both shows, audiences get to see a spark ignite on stage (in multiple ways), and I love seeing how directors interpret the character’s actions in this scene.” This Festival Season, White hopes that the shared themes of both La bohème and Rent are appreciated by everyone who comes to see the opera, and that they too are inspired by ideas of love, art, and ambition within the production. “The themes about love that are a big part of this opera really resonate with me and the thousands of others that have gotten to experience La bohème,” White exclaimed. “How love blossoms and impacts your life and your art will always be something I love to see explored in opera, music, books, and film!

Learn more about La bohème