Joshua Guerrero, tenor
Fifth in a series
Remember drive-in movies? From October 24 through November 1, San Diego Opera will
present “drive-in opera” – a live production of Puccini’s La Bohème in the Pechanga Arena
parking lot, starring Buff’s alumnus Joshua Guerrero as Rodolfo.
“Because of COVID-19 restrictions, we each have our own block on an elevated stage,” Joshua
relates. “We never leave it, keeping 15 feet apart if we’re singing toward each other. If we’re
singing outward, to the audience, we stay 6 to 8 feet away.” And, no, Joshua has no idea how it
will feel, singing to cars rather than people.
Joshua’s experience in the role of Rodolfo includes the Opera Buffs’ “La Bohème in concert,”
performed two years ago. The San Diego Bohème is a streamlined opera conceived as a telling
of Rodolfo’s memories. Streamlined because labor union social distancing strictures ban choirs.
For safety, the orchestra is pared down to 24 musicians. Throughout the opera, Rodolfo
remains in his study, writing about – and reliving – the events that took place ten years earlier.
“It’s Rodolfo’s moment of closure,” Joshua explains. “At last he is making peace with his guilt
over Mimi’s death. It’s a beautiful, powerful reinterpretation.”
Joshua is well aware of the pain and suffering in the pandemic’s wake, but he’s a self-professed
silver-lining seeker. “Once I made peace with not singing, I unplugged. I had an extended rest,”
he says. The silver lining? He realized he was “more than Joshua the Singer.”
The renowned tenor became Joshua the construction worker, setting up a home music studio
and landscaping his garden. He played piano and guitar, landed some voice-over gigs, and
visited family and friends under strict safety precautions. Toward the end of this time, he joined
bass-baritone Nick Brownlee in serenading Opera Buffs’ member extraordinaire Dick Wayne
from his driveway, as one of a series of mini-concerts offered by Los Angeles Opera to
especially generous donors.
“It was a really precious moment for me,” Joshua recalls. “Dick has played a huge part in my
career through his support of the Opera Buffs and LA Opera. I know Nick would say the same
thing. Dick was always there, always involved, helping so many singers realize their dreams.”
Preparing for the recital series – and La Bohème – reminded Joshua of how much he loves
singing and has missed performing before a live audience. “The voice is something you really
can’t quantify. A lot gets lost over a screen – the human connection people are starving for
right now – It’s very holy in a lot of ways, this transference of energy. It put me in a place of
true gratitude.”
This gratitude extends to Joshua’s “musical mother,” Mona Lands, Artistic Administrator of the
Opera Buffs and retired from the music department at UCLA. It was Mona who encouraged the
former Baptist seminarian, singing gondolier at The Venetian in Las Vegas, and social worker for
developmentally disabled adults to audition for the Buffs and UCLA’s opera program.
“In the beginning, I wasn’t convinced,” recalls Joshua. “But Mona kept at me. The support she
has shown and continues to show young singers is extraordinary. She’s such a special person, a
guiding light, a star to follow.”
Meanwhile, after Bohème, Joshua will follow his own star to Europe, to appear as Pinkerton in
Puccini’s Madama Butterfly in December with Deutsche Oper Berlin. “I’m very fortunate. I have
work lined up in Europe for at least two to three years,” says Joshua. “Thank you, again, Opera
Buffs, for helping me get there.”
To learn more about San Diego’s upcoming Drive-In Opera performance of La Bohème click HERE.