The gay entrance of Colline and Schaunard, who bring over food and wine, replaces the initial melancholy. Fast paced song and dance follow to the point where Benoit, Rodolfo's unfaithful landlord enters. The music here seems heavier, losing the contented feel from the celebration. Eventually the act sees the entrance of Mimi, our heroine after Rodolfo's three friends left for the café. The essence of this act is to showcase the blossoming love between the two. This is skillfully captured by their duet "Che gelida manina (Rodolfo's aria) and Si Mi chiamano Mim (Mim's aria). During this duet, Mimi was sitting by the ladder on which stood Rodolfo, gazing up at him. This can be contrasted with the balcony scene in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, where Romeo looks up upon his sweetheart. There are also the offstage actions by his three friends. This serves as a reminder of the other characters' presence at the café downstairs. One noteworthy onstage action that defers from the libretto is that of a kiss between the two lovers. Luhrmann directed this production rather seamlessly that this exclusion did not undermine the story plot. This act ends as the lovers leave the stage singing in unison and the sound fading into the background as the second act is being introduced. This highlights the smooth transition enabled by the stage design.
Act 2. The introduction of this scene is vastly different from that of the previous. It is chaotic at first sight. There are throngs of people crowding the streets, children, and vendors and of course the main characters of the story. The festive Christmas ambiance is well illustrated by this crowd scene. The position of the orchestra helps to heighten the scene as well. The arrays of colors seek to captivate the audience further. However, I feel that the part whereby Paipignol enters seems irrelevant to the main plot of the love story. That is, the besides enhancing the swarming stage, it is rather redundant to the tale.