Portland State University's award-winning opera program will present Puccini's La Bohème for its annual spring production. Joined by internationally renowned stage director Tito Capobianco, students will perform one of the world's most loved operas in honor of Puccini's 150th birthday.

Presented by the School of Fine and Performing Art's Department of Music, the tragedy is set in the bohemian culture of 1830s Paris, and centers around an optimistic group of friends surviving on very limited means. Rodolfo, a poet, shares his garret with an artist. Mimi is a seamstress living in a neighboring apartment. They fall instantly and madly in love, but Mimi is desperately ill and not long for this world. La Bohème will be performed in Italian with surtitles.

To direct the opera, Tito Capobianco returns to Portland State as the 2008 Jeannine B. Cowles Distinguished Professor in Residence. Last spring, the combination of young talent and Capobianco's direction produced Così fan Tutte, which won a second-place award in Division I of the National Opera Association's collegiate opera competition.

There will be five showings of La Bohème.

When: Saturday, May 3rd, 2008 (Closing Night)
Where: Lincoln Performance Hall (1620 SW Park Avenue)
Time: 7:30pm
Cost: $25 for the general public, $23 for seniors, and $12 for children and PSU students

Tickets for the opera are are available through the PSU Box Office (1825 SW Broadway), by calling 503-725-3307 or through any TicketMaster outlet (service charge may apply).

Media interested in attending should contact Molly Lane, University Communications, at 503-725-8555.