August is here, and the 2026–2027 season begins in just over a month with Puccini’s perennial favorite, La bohème. 🕯️This will be Lyric Opera’s thirteenth production of Puccini’s classic story of friendship and romance. 💞
This season, we have an incredible lineup of new programming to support our mainstage performances, including a book club, movie screenings, and happy hours after Sunday matinees. 📖🎞️🍸 Be sure to read below about our new slate of community engagement events. We also have an exciting evening planned with Kansas City dining icon Le Fou Frog to kick off La bohème, so you definitely won’t want to miss it. 🥖👨🎨
Our new class of resident artists has been announced, and two of them are returning for their second seasons with Lyric Opera. We can’t wait to begin working with them! 🎶 Finally, we have a couple of auditions coming up—one for humans and one for a dog appearing in La bohème. 🐩
Welcome to August, and welcome back to opera in Kansas City! 🌻
La bohème / Photo © Karli Cadel
Next month, our season begins with Puccini's masterpiece, La bohème! This soaring opera that inspired the musical Rent follows a group of impoverished bohemians in nineteenth-century Paris, facing life's challenges with humor, resilience, and poetry. 🍾🕯️
Want to start listening to the music? Check out our listening guide for La bohème to listen and learn more about the highlights!
Maya and the Magic Ring / Photo © Andrew Schwartz
Calling all Kansas City tenors, baritones, bass-baritones, and basses! 🎶 Lyric Opera’s Learning Department is seeking singers to bring Maya and the Magic Ring to local elementary schools in March 2027. If you're passionate about opera, arts education, and musical storytelling, we want to hear from you! ✨
La bohème / Photo © Karli Cadel
Lyric Opera of Kansas City is seeking a dog to join the cast of La bohème to play the role of Musetta’s Dog! 🐩 Auditioning dogs should be trained (reliable sit, stay, and down commands) and must be able to remain calm through a loud opera scene. Dogs should be a poodle breed or should bear a strong resemblance to a French poodle. Audition applications are due on Friday, August 14! 🐾
This year, Lyric Opera celebrates the tenth season of the Resident Artist Program! Chosen from an extensive audition each season, resident artists appear in mainstage roles, perform for education and community engagement initiatives, and receive training from internationally-acclaimed experts in the field of opera. We welcome this season's resident artists, and look forward to seeing them on the Kauffman Center stage and in the Kansas City community! 🎶
We want you to connect personally and meaningfully to the art on our stage. Patrons who explore our programs find themselves more engaged with the performance. Dive deeper into La bohème with these opportunities to enhance your experience. 🎭
Rent Movie Screening at Screenland Armour
📅 August 30 at 3:30 pm: Grab your popcorn and take a seat for a special screening of Rent, the hit musical inspired by La bohème, at Screenland Armour! 🍿 Use promo code LYRIC for $5 off tickets. 🎬
Opera Book Club: La bohème
📅 September 8 at 7:00 pm: Discover the pages that inspired the stage as we explore Scenes from the Life of Bohemia, the literary spark behind La bohème! 📖 Connect with fellow book and opera enthusiasts at Rainy Day Books for an engaging discussion about this classic bohemian world. 💭
Opera Dives Deep: La bohème
📅 September 14 at 6:00 pm: Learn more about La bohème—its synopsis, historical background, and musical highlights. ✅
Opera Dives Deep: Meet the Artists of La bohème
📅 September 21 at 6:00 pm: Meet the artists of La bohème! Learn more about their careers, their experiences with Lyric Opera’s production, and the stories behind their performances. 🌟
Community Conversation: To Dinner!
📅 September 23 at 6:30 pm: Join Lyric Opera and Le Fou Frog for an evening of culture and cuisine! 🎶 Indulge in live excerpts from La bohème perfectly paired with courses and wines inspired by the golden age of French gastronomy. 🍷
Lyric Happy Hour
📅 September 27 at 4:30 pm: Celebrate La bohème following the final performance with Lyric Happy Hour, hosted by Lyric Opera and Kanbe's Markets at Mineral Lounge! 🍸
Photo © Andrew Schwartz
Student Dress Rehearsals: Bring your students to the final dress rehearsals of La bohème on September 17, 2026, and The Marriage of Figaro on November 5, 2026! To enhance learning, teachers receive curricular resources and a chance to schedule pre-teaching at your school. 🍎
Mozart’s Mic Drop: Bring the world’s original pop star to your school in October 2026 with a high-energy journey through the revolutionary music of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This interactive program peels back the powdered wig to reveal a freelance rebel whose “mic drop” moments mirror the social struggles and complex emotions of today’s students. 🎤
Photo © Andy Newbegin Photography
As we begin our 2026–27 season, we want to say a heartfelt thank you to the more than 350 donors and organizations whose generosity helped make it possible. Your gifts do so much to help opera thrive in Kansas City, from bringing unforgettable productions to life on stage at the Kauffman Center to sparking a lifelong love of opera in the next generation through school programs. If you've ever wondered how you can make a difference at Lyric Opera, this season is proof that every gift helps create something extraordinary. Thank you for showing what the Lyric Opera community can accomplish together!💗
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Sponsors
The 2026–2027 season is sponsored by the Richard J. Stern Foundation for the Arts; the Muriel McBrien Kauffman Family Foundation; the Lyric Opera of Kansas City Foundation; and R.C. Kemper Charitable Trust and Foundation, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee; with public support from Missouri Arts Council, a state agency. La bohème is supported, in part, by the City of Kansas City, Missouri Neighborhood Tourist Development Fund and the Martha Lee Cain Tranby Music Enrichment Fund.
