Answer: Larson, like so many others, was captivated by La Bohème. He saw himself and his roommates in the opera’s characters. After watching La Bohème, he intensely studied its music and narrative. “I analyzed the libretto, broke it down beat by beat,” Larson told the New York Times. He then took the characters from La Bohème and imagined them in present-day New York. They faced the same financial difficulties, but the disease that plagued their friend group was AIDS instead of Tuberculosis.
