MADAMA BUTTERFLY

MADAMA BUTTERFLY

An evening at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall,

Seattle Center as we arrive for Madama Butterfly,

Puccini's opera in which a Japanese maiden

catches the fancy of a caddish American officer,

crosses cultural boundaries as his bride,

and grapples with predicament awaiting his return.

 

At the pre-performance talk,

Sue Elliott, Director of Education, forewarns  -

‘this opera hurts,’ and playfully recommends

4-5 tissues per view.

 

Puccini's big three - Tosca, La Bohème and Butterfly;

I have seen the other two, but tonight it’s Butterfly,

the opera most produced each year,

and soon I know why.

 

We enter a luminous, five-story, serpentine glass

Grand Lobby with an equally grand-sized public plaza

located outside. They use the Canadian Opera Company's

minimalist set and costumes for this Butterfly.

 

On opening night, they staged a simulcast,

five thousand viewers gathered

in the adjacent park

taking Puccini in.

 

I can tell you that Sue was correct,

this opera breaks one’s heart so much  

that I purchased Callas to help transmit

Butterfly’s exquisite pain night after lonely night. 

 

Author's Note

Trying to have some fun turning a published travel piece that I wrote to poetry.