Broadway’s La Bohème Will Say "Addio" on June 29

It has been announced that Baz Luhrmann’s Broadway production of La Bohème will close on Sunday, June 29 after having played 12 previews and 228 performances at the Broadway Theatre. The cast was informed of the closing this afternoon between shows.

On Sunday, June 8, the production received Tony Awards for its set design (Catherine Martin) and lighting design (Nigel Levings), as well as a special Tony honor for the 10 performers who rotate in the leading roles of Rodolfo, Mimi, Marcello, and Musetta. A spokesperson for Bohème said that, following its Broadway closing, the production will move on to L.A.’s Ahmanson Theatre in 2004, playing there from January 9 through March 7. It will travel to London after that, playing from May 30 through October 30 in a venue yet to be announced.

In his review of the production for TheaterMania, Michael Portantiere wrote: “The very idea of presenting an Italian opera on Broadway is so deliciously odd and exciting that the temptation is to expound on What It All Means, but most of this territory has already been covered in countless reams and megabytes worth of words written about Baz Luhrmann’s La Bohème in the weeks leading up to its opening last night. Now that Bohème has officially bowed at the Broadway Theatre, any review that focused on the whys and wherefores of the production would be redundant. Better to cut to the chase and say that, on its own terms, the show succeeds brilliantly.”