Ellen Kent: Madama Butterfly - with Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre

Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly is an unforgettable story of doomed love and heartbreak. The three-act opera premiered at Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy in 1904.

Set in Nagasaki Japan, it follows a young geisha girl named Cio-Cio-San, otherwise known as Madama Butterfly. She falls hopelessly in love with US naval lieutenant Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton, who has purchased a house there as well as the right to marry her. However, hers is an unrequited love with devastating consequences.

Award-winning opera producer Ellen Kent has been doing a traditional staging of Madama Butterfly that truly pulls at the heartstrings for many years. Her production was named Best Opera at Liverpool Daily Post’s Theatre Awards, plus The Independent said it “captured the raw emotion at the centre of the opera” and advises audience goers not to “take a handkerchief with you, take a box of them”.

Among the many musical highlights for this story that reaches across cultures, oceans and time are the moving aria 'One Fine Day', the melodic 'Humming Chorus' and the unforgettable 'Love Duet'.

Back by overwhelming public demand, Senbla presents Opera International’s Ellen Kent production of a new Madama Butterfly has been announced for 2024 with breath-taking costumes (such as antique wedding kimonos from Japan) and exquisite sets including a Japanese garden.