Utah Opera's Madame Butterfly

I really love Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly (Utah Opera's 2014 production is one of my very favorites by the company) so it was with a bit of trepidation that I went to see a bold new version last night at Capitol Theatre.  I tend to be a purist and I usually dislike it when classics, especially classics that I love, are reimagined.  However, much to my surprise, I really enjoyed it because it retains the story and, more importantly, the incomparable music but adds a framing device to emphasize the fact that the character of Butterfly is Pinkerton's stereotyped vision of a Japanese woman and not reality.  It is very effective!  Act I begins when a young man named B.F. Pinkerton (Eric Taylor) enters his sleek and modern apartment, which is decorated with posters depicting Japanese anime characters, and, using a VR headset, joins a game set in Japan at the turn of the century using the avatar of a U.S. naval officer.  The alternate world he enters is a fantastical one.  He is wearing a uniform but the cut is exaggerated and it is without adornment, his house features shoji screens, lanterns, and cherry blossoms but everything is bright and stylized, and the Japanese people he interacts with are dressed traditionally but the colors are vivid and bold and the hairstyles reflect the cuts and colors you would find in Japanese anime.  Pinkerton is an interactive player in the game and he soon requests that Sharpless (Nmon Ford), the U.S. Consul, allow him to wed a Japanese geisha named Cio-Cio San (Hiromi Omura), or Butterfly, for convenience.  Sharpless agrees but warns him to treat her carefully because she loves him.  After they are married, Butterfly confesses that she has secretly converted to Christianity, which causes her uncle the Bonze (Zaikuan Song) to disown her, so he comforts her before they spend a blissful night together.  Act II begins three years later and Pinkerton, who is now married to Kate (Sarah Scofield), is a passive observer in the game.  Butterfly eagerly awaits Pinkerton's return and she chastises her maid Suzuki (Nina Yoshida Nelsen) for saying that he is not coming back, refuses a marriage proposal from Prince Yamadori (Kevin Nakatani), and dismisses Sharpless when he attempts to read her a goodbye letter from Pinkerton.  Butterfly eventually sees Pinkerton's ship in the harbor and keeps vigil all night waiting for him to come to her and their son.  In Act III, Pinkerton, an active participant once again, reaches a new level in the game and is allowed to pick a wife but, when he chooses Kate's avatar rather than Butterfly's, he sees how his actions have impacted Butterfly.  She decides that her child will have a better life with Pinkerton and Kate but this drives her to a desperate act that abruptly ends the game leaving present-day Pinkerton in despair.  This particular narrative is absolutely brilliant and I was mesmerized by the staging but I was most impressed by the cast!  Omura gives an incredibly passionate performance.  The love duet between Butterfly and Pinkerton after their wedding ("Love me, please") is beautiful and filled with longing while the aria she sings insisting that Pinkerton will return to her ("One fine day we shall see") is so emotional that I had tears in my eyes (the audience burst into spontaneous applause).  Taylor has an expressive voice but I especially enjoyed the transformation in Pinkerton as he silently observes Butterfly's love for him in Act II.  I also loved Ford's voice in the duet between Sharpless and Butterfly ("Now for us") because he is very compassionate knowing that the truth will devastate her.  As always, my favorite moment was during the "Humming Chorus" because it is such a compelling scene and I was very moved hearing the Utah Opera Chorus sing it last night.  I did not expect to love this thought-provoking production as much as I did and I highly recommend it!  There are two more performances but act quickly (go here) because there are not many tickets left.