Event

Madama Butterfly - Berkeley

Puccini's deeply passionate and sublime masterpiece tells the story of an American serviceman who lusts after a Japanese girl and marries her, only to leave her. Pregnant and banished from her people for abandoning her ancestral religion, Butterfly pines for her love's return. He does return, but only to humiliate and betray her beyond what can be endured. The finale of Butterfly rivals King Lear and Phaedra in its horror and intensity.

Robert Lundy-Paine, Virago's Resident Director and the director of La Boheme, brings stylized, intimate opera rich with sexual politics and movement. Featuring soprano Eileen Meredith, tenor Ray Chavez and a cast of Bay Area favorites (Sally Mouzon, Alex Taite, Bill Pickersgill, Martin Bell, Horus Toulson to name a few). Maestro Jerry Kuderna conducts the Shameless Passion orchestra for this limited run of Puccini's best loved opera. Sponsored by Perforce Software of Alameda.