As San Francisco Opera’s summer season in the Opera House is underway with an excellent production of Giacomo Puccini’s “La Bohème,” there’s still a chance for new and old fans to see a free, mini outdoor version of the classic in the popular “Bohème Out of the Box” program.
Final performances in the series, now in its third year, are June 28-29 in Hayward’s Heritage Plaza.
Directed by Jose Maria Condemi, these 60-minute presentations—on a shipping container that’s been converted into a stage—feature San Francisco Opera artists-in residence Caroline Corrales as Mimi, Samuel White as Rodolfo, Samuel Kidd as Marcello, Georgiana Adams as Musetta, Jongwon Han as Colline, Philip Skinner as Benoit/Alcindoro. They are accompanied by pianists Julian Grabarek and Ji Youn Lee.
“La Bohème,” the beloved opera about the lives and loves of bohemian artists, is the first work produced by San Francisco Opera under founder Gaetano Merola in 1923. Over the decades, the company has staged it more than three dozen times.
Some past “Bohème Out of the Box” performances have been in Sausalito, Los Altos Hills, San Ramon, Alameda and last year in Albany, where the enthusiastic audience packed Solano Avenue and enjoyed following live English translations of the libretto on their devices.
The upcoming Hayward production, presented in collaboration with the Hayward Public Library, takes place on the plaza lawn, and patrons are advised to bring blankets, their own seating and sun protection.
“Bohème Out of the Box” is at 2 p.m. June 28-29, 2025 in Heritage Plaza, 835 C St., Hayward. Admission is free; registration at sfopera.com is requested.
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