Opera Australia's LA BOHEME Will Embark on Tour

Opera Australia is embarking on its 29th annual National Tour with Dean Bryant’s celebrated 70’s inspired bohemian production of Italian composer Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème, travelling around the country from 11 July to 6 September 2025.

With its glorious music and universal themes of love, friendship and loss, La Bohème is a story that transcends time and place, which makes it enticing for opera fans and easily accessible for newcomers, providing a wonderful opportunity to showcase the beauty of opera to audiences outside the Capital Cities.

A highlight of Opera Australia’s calendar, this year’s tour will launch in Geelong before traversing the continent visiting Victoria, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory and Western Australia.

The tour offers an invaluable experience for regional and remote communities to discover and engage with the art form while also providing an opportunity for education and inspiration to a younger generation.

An integral aspect of OA’s National Tour is the inclusion of local children’s choirs in the performance to both further their musical education and ignite their passion. Under the direction of Children’s Chorus Master and working with the choirs in advance of the tour, students then join the cast for rehearsals before taking to the stage. For many this is their first taste of performing in front of an audience, which has proven to be both a rewarding and memorable experience.

The incredibly talented creative team on this production is led by award-winning director Dean Bryant, along with set and Costume Designer Isabel Hudson and lighting designer Damien Cooper.

"This is a story about a group of young artists dealing with all the huge things in life for the first time. Growing up in regional Australia, I had the same passion and urgency to be heard, to fall in love, to live, so it's particularly exciting for me to be taking this production, set in Paris in the 1970s, across the country”, Bryant said.

Led by conductor Simon Bruckard, the production boasts a cast of brilliant singers and musicians, breathing fresh life into one of the world’s most loved operas including sopranos Danita Weatherstone and Maia Andrews sharing the role of Mimì, tenors John Longmuir and Nick Kirkup as Rodolfo, sopranos Cathy-Di Zhang and Sarah Prestwidge as Musetta and baritones Andrew Williams and Benjamin Del Borrello as Marcello.

Since 1996 Opera Australia has toured more than 720 fully staged performances to more than 339,000 people in 139 locations across metropolitan and regional Australia. This is an essential activity in broadening the reach of Australia’s national opera company and increasing access to world-class live opera performances.

This production is supported by the Opera Conference, Australia’s national partnership of professional opera companies, the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its arts investment and advisory body, by the NSW Government through Create NSW, and by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria.

Tour Dates

Victoria

Geelong | 11 & 12 July | Geelong Performing Arts Centre

Wangaratta | 6 September | Wangaratta Performing Arts & Convention Centre

New South Wales

Murwillumbah | 22 July | Murwillumbah Civic Centre

Northern Territory

Darwin | 8 & 9 August | Darwin Entertainment Centre

Tennant Creek | 13 August | Barkly Regional Arts

Araluen | 16 August | Araluen Arts Centre

Australian Capital Territory

Canberra | 17–19 July | Canberra Theatre Centre

Queensland

Cairns | 25 July | Cairns Performing Arts Centre

Rockhampton | 29 July | Pilbeam Theatre

Mackay | 31 July | Mackay Entertainment and Convention Centre

Caloundra | 2 August | The Events Centre

Western Australia

Mandurah | 20 August | Mandurah Performing Arts Centre

Albany | 22 August | Albany Entertainment Centre