Creating deep chemistry — both vocally and emotionally — is crucial for what Atlanta Opera hopes to achieve in its temporary relocation to Pullman Yards. The move is part of its Discoveries Series that has taken the company to alternative venues all around the city.

By juxtaposing original productions of “La Boheme” with Jonathan Larson’s Broadway musical “Rent,” Tomer Zvulun, the opera’s general and artistic director, is betting that these stories resonate with audiences who don’t typically attend opera. Zvulun also chose to present both stories as semi-immersive experiences, collapsing the proscenium in favor of a more intimate setup that puts the audience amid the action.

Written by Giacomo Puccini at the close of the 19th century, “La Boheme” tells the story of instant attraction, intense love and death in the days of tuberculosis. Atlanta Opera staged a traditional production of the opera in January in the company’s permanent Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre home. At Pullman Yards, Tomer Zvulun will update the drama by placing “La Boheme” squarely in the COVID-19 crisis. On alternating nights, Byrdsong and his colleagues will perform the mid-90s Broadway musical “Rent”; Larson based the show on “La Boheme,” updating the original’s tuberculosis pandemic to the AIDS crisis.

“The idea is that history repeats itself, or at least rhymes with itself,” said Zvulun, who has been sketching out the project in his mind since the early days of the COVID crisis. “You can see it with those different pandemics and the stories of artists being devastated by whatever adversity is coming to the world.”

James Lowe conducts both productions, which are codirected by Zvulun along with set and production designer Vita Tzykun.

While the stories are connected, this is the first time an opera company has programmed the shows together, according to Zvulun. Taken with the company’s traditional production of “La Boheme” in January, the shows form a triptych.

“For us, it’s really energizing to show the Atlanta community: Look, this is the same story; you can tell it in three different centuries — same characters, different musical styles, different presentations,” he said. For him, both stories are wrapped up in “falling in love for the first time, struggling to find a path, fighting adversity ... and, most importantly, finding a way to deal with something that every human being will have to encounter, which is confronting a heartbreaking loss.”

For Byrdsong, “La Boheme” and “Rent” are all about love and respect, and that’s what he’s focused on when fashioning his portrayal of Angel.

“Angel is a beautiful reminder [that] you don’t have to understand someone to respect them,” he said. “Angel reminds everyone … that it really is easy to be a beacon of love if you just try.”

Amanda Batista, who made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera last season, sings Mimi in Atlanta’s “La Boheme.” She debuted in the role during a traditional staging of the opera last summer at Wolf Trap Opera in Virginia. The experience gives her a solid foundation from which to explore a different approach to Mimi for the modernized production. The update gives her fresh license to play around with the character.

“In the traditional sense … Mimi is seen as a more shy and submissive type of person,” said Batista, who is singing with the Atlanta Opera for the first time. “Maybe in this modern version, she’s a little more strategic.” She’s very smart and has a lot of autonomy, Batista adds.

The immersive production also gives more freedom to opera singers accustomed to performing while facing outward to the audience. Now she has more liberty to interact with other characters as a movie actor would. Adding microphones to the mix creates even more intimacy for singers used to projecting to the last rows of an auditorium.

“It does invite us to take the dynamic down to something really personal, which we can’t always do in a large theater,” she said. “Now it’s more like, OK, they’re going to hear me no matter what I do; how do I actually want to deliver this message?”

Before joining the production, Batista already knew Atlanta Opera by its reputation as an innovative organization. It was among one of the first opera companies to get back to work after the initial wave of COVID. Those early performances — masked, distanced and held in tents on the Oglethorpe University baseball field — are direct precursors to the programming choices the opera makes today.

Zvulan credits the company’s ability to stage 18 performances of “Rent” and “La Boheme” at Pullman Yards with the experience they gained producing those Big Top shows. Fittingly, he’s dedicating the performances to the health workers and first responders that, among other things, enabled Atlanta Opera to put on those shows mere months after the onset of the pandemic.

That dedication and innovation made an impact on artists all over the world. Singers took notice that Atlanta Opera is an organization that looks outside the mold, and it made musicians like Batista want to sing in Atlanta.

“The company didn’t let the pandemic stop them from making art,” she said. “That’s a really special history to be bringing into this.”

Opera preview

“La Boheme” and “Rent.” In repertoire Sept. 18-Oct. 6. $30-$175. Pullman Yards, 225 Rogers St. NE, Atlanta. 404-881-8885, atlantaopera.org