FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Opera Colorado’s Madama Butterfly asks audiences to see a familiar story differently
DENVER, CO— Puccini’s Madama Butterfly returns to Opera Colorado May 2, 5, 7, 8, and 10 at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, giving audiences their first chance to experience it in Denver in more than a decade.
Composed by Giacomo Puccini with a libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, Madama Butterfly is one of the most famous operas in the world, known for its unforgettable music and the complex questions it raises about culture, power, and representation.
Directed by Mo Zhou, this Madama Butterfly is approached not as a tragic romance, but as a tale of survival and resilience. "Butterfly is more than a love story. At its core, it is about exploitation and erasure—what happens when a dominant culture, and a dominant gender, takes advantage of the hopes of a vulnerable one," says Zhou.
Madama Butterfly has been the subject of ongoing conversation for its portrayal of Japanese culture and its heroine. Zhou chooses to set the drama in Japan’s Rokumeikan era (1883-1887)—a period marked by rapid Western influence and cultural assimilation. This staging, with cultural consultation by Asuka Morinaga Derfler supporting movement and behavior onstage, engages with that complexity directly while shifting the focus to Cio-Cio-San’s experience and the power dynamics at the heart of the story. "When we remove the fantasy of exoticism, what remains is a clear, unflinching view of power: its violence, its seduction, and the devastating toll it exacts," says Zhou.
At the center is Cio-Cio-San, sung by soprano Eri Nakamura, making her U.S. debut in a role she has performed all over the world. Her portrayal reveals a woman of strength, navigating impossible choices with courage. “She is often seen as meek and fragile,” Zhou says. “But I see someone with a backbone, who believed in reinvention and longed to be seen and accepted by a white Western ideal. What she could not see was that every promise she believed in was built on fundamentally unequal ground.”
The cast also includes tenor Joseph Dennis as Pinkerton (Opera Colorado debut), mezzo-soprano Kristen Choi as Suzuki (Opera Colorado debut), and baritone Levi Hernandez as Sharpless, alongside the Opera Colorado Orchestra and Chorus under the direction of Music Director Ari Pelto and Chorus Master and Assistant Conductor Sahar Nouri.
As the leader of the company's artistic vision, the Ellie Caulkins General Director and CEO Barbara Lynne Jamison intentionally frames works on the stage as an opportunity for both reflection and community—an invitation to experience a familiar opera in a thoughtful and immediate way.
“How we tell stories matters,” she says. “Madama Butterfly is such a powerful work, and I’m so grateful to the artists and collaborators who have approached it with such care. I hope our community will come experience it together—there’s so much in it that feels immediate and human, something people will recognize, whether it’s their first opera or not.”
Madama Butterfly's music feels familiar and enchanting, from “Un bel dì” to the sweeping orchestral moments that tell the story without words. Equally important is the unique perspective of this production. This Butterfly focuses on what Cio-Cio-San goes through, and what it costs her. It’s a story about power, about promises that aren’t kept, and about who is left to carry the consequences—patterns that still feel familiar today.
“This story still exists around the world,” Zhou says. “We are here to remember its cost, and that is why it matters.”
Performances take place May 2, 5, 7, 8, and 10, with the final performance on Mother’s Day. Tickets start at $39 ($47 after fees and taxes), with Pay What You Wish options available.
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