La boheme

When: Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m. Continues through Aug. 3 2019

Rodolfo is a poor poet living in Paris, while his friend Marcello is a starving artist. When their more successful friends Schaunard and Colline bring food and then depart for the cafe with Marcello, Rodolfo stays behind to work on a new verse. A beautiful young seamstress named Mimi interrupts him, and in an instant the two fall in love. Poverty is no barrier to romance blossoming, but his jealousy and her fatal case of consumption are. Rodolfo and Mimi have some good times before they reluctantly agree to separate so he doesn't have to watch her die. But can the two lovers really be apart? Giacomo Puccini's opera La boheme celebrates all-conquering love. Union Avenue Opera presents La boheme in English at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday (July 26 to August 3) at the Union Avenue Christian Church (733 North Union Boulevard; www.unionavenueopera.org). Tickets are $30 to $55.

— Paul Friswold