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Puccini's Madam Butterfly, 2013 - Director Fraser Grant, White Rock Theatre

Friday 25th & Saturday 26th October - White Rock Theatre, Hastings

Madam Butterfly
is o
ne of the most popular operas ever composed, Madame Butterfly tells the tale of a teenage geisha trapped between the contrasting cultures of America and Japan, and ultimately rejected by both.

Married in a ceremony of convenience to an American naval officer, who then returns home without her to his native land, Cio Cio San sits and patiently waits for the 'One Fine Day' when he will come back to her. Yet, when he finally returns after three years, the ending is a tragic one!

This production by Opera South East brings the action forward to the 1920s when Japan was beginning to embrace western culture and yet its relationship with the States was heading towards one of its lowest points ever. Using a blend of western and traditional Japanese staging techniques, and taking its aesthetic from lacquer boxes, shoji screens and American city skylines, it promises to be both heartbreaking and beautiful.

Cio-Cio-San (Madame Butterfly) is played by Elizabeth Roberts, who was the soprano soloist at the lighting of the Cauldron in the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Cast

Cio-Cio-San, Madame Butterfly

Suzuki, her servant

Kate Pinkerton, Pinkerton's Americal Wife

B F Pinkerton, Lieutenant in US Navy

Sharpless, US Consul at Nagasaki

Goro, a marriage broker

Prince Yamadori, a rich Japanese

The Bonze, Cio-Cio-San's uncle

The Imperial Commissioner

The Official Registrar
Elizabeth Roberts

Karen McInally

Lesley Moore

James Heath

Peter Grevatt

Jeremy Vinogradov

Hiroshi Kanazawa

Toby Sims

John Rycroft

Neil Bannock

Sorrow, Cio-Cio-San's child

Yakuside, Cio-Cio-San's uncle

Cio-Cio-San's mother

Cio-Cio-San's cousin

Cio-Cio-San's aunt

Cio-Cio-San's relations and friends; servants


Director

Musical Director

Costume Design

George Edwards

Gerald Hewson

Julia Bovee

Natasha Dalloway

Sandra Lambourne

Chorus


Fraser Grant

Kenneth Roberts


Julia Bovee

Family Arts Festival

Opera South East participatid in the first-ever nationwide Family Arts Festival aimed at encouraging families to the arts - 6pm on Saturday, 26th October before the first performance for an introduction to Madame Butterfly. It was free to ticket-holders for that evening’s performance of Madame Butterfly and to anyone who attended on Friday on production of their ticket.

Reviews

Lark Review: http://www.larkreviews.co.uk/?p=1328
....Pinkerton can too readily be seen as a brash cad, but James Heath creates a far more complex personality. In act one his naivety seems closer to Albert Herring than to Don Jose, and the underlying eroticism was helped by Elizabeth Roberts all too willing Butterfly. Her appearance in a western wedding veil was immediately telling, and the arrival of the Bonze (strongly characterised by Toby Sims) who rips the veil from her, highlighted the dichotomy for a society in transition.

Trying to bridge the disparate elements, Peter Grevatt’s Sharpless was a master of tact, but, in the superbly handled letter scene in act two, proved to be out of his depth. There is nothing he can do to prevent the inevitable tragic conclusion, though he spent most of act one warning the love-sick Pinkerton that no good would come of it.

Like Juliet’s nurse, Karen McInally’s Suzuki starts the evening in a warmly comfortable position, hopeful that all will be for the best, but gradually slips into despair. It was noteworthy that her singing became stronger as the evening progressed and she was forced by circumstance to make more and more decisions for Butterfly, who has now lost her grip on life...



Hastings Online:
http://hastingsonlinetimes.co.uk/arts-culture/music-sound/opera-south-east-paints-town-red

With its dramatic plot and thrilling score, Carmen is probably the most popular opera in the world, but director Fraser Grant brings a fresh approach and perhaps a more feminist realization to this production...

NODA

A summary version of the review by the National Operatic and Dramatic Association is here:
https://www.noda.org.uk/events/reports/madame_butterfly

... A first class performance, with a big box of tissues a must.
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