PBS' GREAT PERFORMANCES to Continue May 20 with Puccini's LA BOHEME Starring Michael Fabiano and Sonya Yoncheva

Season 12 of GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET continues Sunday, May 20 on PBS (check local listings) with one of the world's most popular operas, Puccini's La Bohème, starring Sonya Yoncheva as the fragile Mimì and Michael Fabiano as the poet Rodolfo.

Franco Zeffirelli's classic production is set in 1830s Paris, where the near-destitute poet Rodolfo and painter Marcello live with their roommates, Colline and Schaunard. Rodolfo meets his beautiful neighbor Mimì and they fall in love at first sight, while Marcello reconnects with his former sweetheart Musetta. Soon after finding love the budding romances are tested by jealousy, poverty and illness. Marco Armiliato conducts. Mezzo-soprano Susan Graham hosts.

Airdates:

National: Sunday, May 20 at 12:00 p.m. on PBS

New York metro area: Sunday, May 20 at 1:00 p.m. on THIRTEEN

Notable Talent:

Sonya Yoncheva - Mimì

Susanna Phillips - Musetta

Michael Fabiano - Rodolfo

Lucas Meachem - Marcello

Alexey Lavrov - Schaunard

Matthew Rose - Colline

Paul Plishka - Benoit / Alcindoro

Run time: 2.5 hours

Production Credits:

Marco Armiliato - Conductor

Franco Zeffirelli - Producer & Set Designer

Peter J. Hall - Costume Designer

Gil Wechsler - Lighting Designer

For the Met, Matthew Diamond directs the telecast. Tim Martyn is music producer. Mia Bongiovanni and Elena Park are supervising producers, and Louisa Briccetti and Victoria Warivonchik are producers. Peter Gelb is executive producer. For Great Performances, Bill O'Donnell is series producer and David Horn is executive producer.

Underwriters:

Corporate support for GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET is provided by Toll Brothers, America's luxury home builder®. Major funding for the Met Opera presentation is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. This GREAT PERFORMANCES presentation is funded by the Irene Diamond Fund, the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Arts Fund, The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, The Agnes Varis Trust, and public television viewers.

Series Overview:

Great Performances at the Met is a presentation of THIRTEEN Productions LLC for WNET, bringing the best of the Metropolitan Opera into the homes of classical music fans across the United States.

About WNET

WNET is America's flagship PBS station and parent company of THIRTEEN and WLIW21. WNET also operates NJTV, the statewide public media network in New Jersey. Through its broadcast channels, three cable services (THIRTEEN PBSKids, Create and World) and online streaming sites, WNET brings quality arts, education and public affairs programming to more than five million viewers each week. WNET produces and presents such acclaimed PBS series as Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, PBS NEWSHOUR WEEKEND and a range of documentaries, children's programs, and local news and cultural offerings. WNET's groundbreaking series for children and young adults include Get the Math, Oh Noah! andCyberchase as well as Mission US, the award-winning interactive history game. WNET highlights the tri-state's unique culture and diverse communities through NYC-ARTS, Theater Close-Up, NJTV News with Mary Alice Williams and MetroFocus, the daily multi-platform news magazine focusing on the New York region. In addition, WNET produces online-only programming including the award-winning series about gender identity, First Person, and an intergenerational look at tech and pop culture, The Chatterbox with Kevin and Grandma Lill. In 2015, THIRTEEN launched Passport, an online streaming service which allows members to see new and archival THIRTEEN and PBS programming anytime, anywhere:www.thirteen.org/passport.

About the Met

THE METROPOLITAN OPERA is America's leading performing arts organization and a vibrant home for the world's most creative and talented artists, including singers, conductors, composers, orchestra musicians, stage directors, designers, visual artists, choreographers, and dancers. The company presents more than 200 performances each season of a wide variety of operas, ranging from early masterpieces to contemporary works. In recent years, the Met has launched many initiatives designed to make opera more accessible, most prominently the Live in HD series of cinema transmissions, which dramatically expands the Met audience by allowing select performances to be seen in more than 2,000 theaters in more than 70 countries around the world.

Photo Credit: PBS