Set Designer

In this groundbreaking new production created by an all-Japanese and Japanese American creative team, Madama Butterfly’s story is transported to a fantastical realm where reality and dreams intersect.

Pinkerton puts on a VR headset and transports us into a vibrant virtual reality playground where he has ultimate control. As his avatar, a U.S. Navy Lieutenant, he can seduce and marry his fantasy girl and abandon her just as easily. But to Cio-Cio San, this is no game and the love and betrayal she feels is all too real.

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Madama Butterfly

Benedum Center for the Performing Arts

An American soldier’s fantasy of Japan, seductive but harmful. A teenaged Japanese girl and a marriage that comes with an escape clause – for him. An all-Japanese and Japanese-American creative team transports Puccini’s tragedy to a fantastical contemporary setting where reality and dreams intersect.

Madame Butterfly

Detroit Opera House

Cincinnati Opera presents Puccini’s heartrending tragedy Madame Butterfly from a bold new point of view. In this groundbreaking new production created by an all-Japanese and Japanese American creative team, Butterfly’s story is transported to a fantastical modern-day realm where reality and dreams intersect. Enter the world of naval officer B.F. Pinkerton, who treats Japan as his playground. He’s taken a nearly thousand-year lease on a house and will marry a young girl named Cio-Cio-San, known as Madame Butterfly. But is it merely a fantasy? For Butterfly, vows are not to be taken lightly. As Pinkerton’s intentions are revealed, Butterfly’s dreams become a tragedy of limitless depths with no going back.

Set Designer

Kimie Nishikawa

Events

Past events

22 - 30 Mar, 2025

Madama Butterfly · Pittsburgh Opera

7 - 15 Oct, 2023

Madame Butterfly · Detroit Opera

About

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