Shanghai Soprano Stars in ‘La Boheme’

By Gerrye Wong
Special to AsianWeek

When the pre-Broadway engagement of Baz Luhrmann’s La Boheme opened in San Francisco this month, audiences were thrilled with the performance of soprano Wei Huang in the leading role of Mimi. Cast as the tragic French seamstress, Chinese-born Huang breaks through the ethnic barrier in a role traditionally played by white actresses.

If the standing ovations on opening week were any indication, opera patrons were enamored with her performance and spectacular voice. As part of the 2002-2003 Best of Broadway season, under the direction of Carole Shorenstein Hays and Scott Nederlander, La Boheme will be playing in San Francisco through Nov. 10 before venturing onto Broadway.

Twenty-five-year-old Huang grew up in Jiang Xie, China, the youngest of three sisters born to hardworking parents employed in an industrial factory. She recalls having a very ordinary school life until middle school, when representatives of the Jiang Xie Art School came to the school to audition potential students. For the next three years, she attended Jiang Xie, studying predominantly Chinese music, history and dance, and began her voice training. When Huang was 17, her voice teacher, recognizing her talent, took her to Shanghai Conservatory of Music for an audition. Huang was quickly accepted into their five-year training program.

In 1998, Hunag competed against over 50 fellow students and professionals to represent China in a large international singing competition in Budapest, Hungary. As its youngest member, she performed against 60 contestants from all over the world and won first prize.

“It was most interesting, as many principals from La Boheme participated [in the competition] and following my winning, right after a two weeks rehearsal time, I was singing the role of Mimi at the Hungarian State Opera House. So you can see how La Boheme has played a very important part of my life so far,” Huang said.

Returning to China to finish her last year at the Shanghai Conservatory, Huang performed at the Shanghai Grand Theatre and continued to study Chinese music as well as Western styles. Huang's venture overseas to the United States came when some Japanese businessmen approached her to perform in a concert they were organizing in New York called “Celebration of Asian Voices.” At the same time, a sponsoring foundation offered her a scholarship to study in the United States, compensating her tuition and living expenses for a two-year study. Braving a new country, at age 22, Huang auditioned and was accepted into the masters program at Brooklyn College, where she completed her Masters of Music Degree in vocal performance earlier this year.

While at school, Huang’s Brooklyn College voice coach heard of auditions for Baz Luhrmann’s new La Boheme production, and asked her to try out for the role of Mimi, since she had won the Hungary competition for the same role.

Huang agreed to try out in April 2001. She made the second audition, but the Sept. 11 attacks halted all performances for a while. Eventually, Huang went through two more auditions, competing against 3,000 singers and was chosen to be part of the pre-Broadway cast.

Working with 50 members of the cast and crew has been a wonderful experience, Huang said.

They had a total of five rehearsal weeks before bringing the production to San Francisco, with favorable reactions. Huang said she is enjoying this updated version of the Puccini opera. “We’re still faithful to Puccini’s music; the story is much the same, but just made into a more modern, 1957 setting in Paris,” Huang said.

It has been reported that Luhrmann decided to find three casts of young, good-looking opera singers who can sing and act the original Italian version in the hopes of making opera a great new experience for nontraditional opera goers. American audiences will remember Luhrmann for his award winning work in films Strictly Ballroom and Moulin Rouge.

All of the performers are in their 20s and 30s and hail from Russia, Germany, Canada, England and of course, China. As Luhrmann tells it, he has amassed a multinational “Dream Team” of the best young opera singers in the world.

Huang says she loves the role of Mimi. “I like playing Mimi in that she’s a very kind, warm-hearted person. Although she dies tragically so young, she seemed to be a person in charge of her life, and I like to think of myself like her.”

Huang adds, “I think Baz Luhrmann wanted to bring in a cast of young singers to tell the story in a way that will appeal not only to those who know Puccini already, but [also] to younger audiences who may never have seen an opera before. I think of myself as one of those new storytellers [who] enliven the story.”

To see the story of the doomed love affair between the seamstress Mimi and the poor writer Rodolfo, set against the world of bohemian Paris in 1957, at San Francisco’s Curran Theatre, log on for ticket information at www.bestofbroadway-sf.com. Tickets arj $40-90 and are also available at the Curran Theatre Box Office, or through Ticketmaster at 415-512-7770.