It is not uncommon to see the roots of opera's greatest hits spilling over into our lives since for all its stereotypical association with the upper class, it is one of the best art forms to showcase the duality of the human existence. (Hint: It is messy like our lives, where happiness can be fleeting and tragedy often befalls the loving.)
The societal spillover of our local Opera Grand Rapids'
Madama Butterfly as their season closer is a work of art that is well known in our world.
Madama Butterfly has emerged from the chrysalis to take on new forms and is often modernized. We see this in the musical theater of
Miss Saigon as well as the experimental work by the bad boy of the '80s underground music scene, Malcolm McLaren, whose take on the art form manifested in the conceptual dance LP, Fans. In the work of Fans, the artist became one of many to begin to marry contemporary rhythms, in this case synth-pop, with the classic Opera, mashing up beloved arias on songs like "
Madam Butterfly (Un bel dì vedremo)" to
Carmen (L'Oiseau Rebelle).
The story of "
Madame Butterfly," while set in Japan, is not simply a tale of an Asian woman's life, love and loss. This opera's roots span over the oceans to Germany where the story of
Faust provides the inspiration for John Luther Long – an American author - to write one of the best short stories, loosely borrowed from a French author's semi-autographical 1887 French novel
Madame Chrysanthème by Pierre Lotithat. By the time it gets to Giacomo Puccini, with a built-in audience,
Madame Butterfly is ripe for an adaptation … but in Italian.
So
Madama Butterfly is truly an international affair that spans the globe with grand universal themes of love and loss. And it is a fitting first step if you have been curious about what OGR can produce here.
In addition to the OGR's April roll out of
Madama Butterfly at a special preview event at the Fredrik Meijer Gardens, a finely curated collection of 30 men's, women's and children's kimonos, including examples of special occasion garments like wedding kimonos, will be on display until May 10 at The Betty Van Andel Opera Center.
Those looking for a more rich experience are encouraged to pre-register for the pre-opera dinner hosted by Opera Affiliates at the University Club on Friday, or on Saturday attendees can join the performers after the show at the cast party to be held at Reserve, just a few steps from DeVos Performance Hall.
Visit
Opera Grand Rapids for all the details.