The tragic tale of love and betrayal marks the return of soprano Elizabeth Caballero to the Lyric Opera as the title character in "Madama Butterfly." Cabellero performed the role of Liù, a slave girl, in the Lyric's production of "Turandot" in 2011. Seats in the Muriel Kauffman Theatre were filled with 1100 students from Kansas City metropolitan area schools who were invited to attend the dress rehearsal performance of "Madama Butterfly" on Thursday.
The opera follows the fateful journey of the young wife of American Naval officer B.F. Pinkerton in Nagasaki, Japan, in the early 20th century. Though Pinkerton has a wife in America, he marries Cio-Cio-San, known as Butterfly, a former geisha. She waits patiently for him to return to Nagasaki and is devastated to discover he has decided to take their son with him back to America. Cio-Cio-San commits suicide rather than returning to the life of a geisha.
The Lyric Opera of Kansas City's production of “Madama Butterfly” by Giacomo Puccini, September 15 - 24, 2012 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Check here for a detailed guide.
