Director's Notes by Frances Rabalias

About Madama Butterfly (2026)

Rabalais in rehearsal for Madama Butterfly.

Sometimes people ask me why I got into opera. Whatever they really are asking about, I interpret that question as “What keeps you doing an art form that most people have never seen?” For me, a major factor of the appeal is that I am constantly learning. I am learning operas that are new to me, but also learning new things about operas that I have worked on many times before. The latter was true every day that I worked on this production. Our lead soprano, Miho Sakoda, was graciously willing to educate all of us on Japanese culture and movement, and I learned much about practices that made the piece . But I was struck dumbfounded by a statement by our conductor, Christian Cappocaccia, early in the rehearsal process. He said that Butterfly, in her steadfast commitment to Pinkerton, is acting according to Italian ideals. (He further went on to say that Butterfly is the Italian equivalent of Tristan, but that matter, while fascinating, is better suited for a doctoral thesis and not program notes.) 

Until Maestro said that, I had realized that Butterfly is acting according to her own set of morals. She defies the expectations of her community in Nagasaki, refusing to be in another relationship. It is also tempting to view Butterfly as clinging to the American values into which she married. She even says to Sharpless in Act 2: “Welcome to an American household.” But I found it important to remember that Puccini’s knowledge of American culture was probably as accurate as his knowledge of Japanese culture. This is the composer who exiled the heroine in Manon Lescautto “the deserts of Louisiana”, after all. While this does not excuse any offenses committed by the composer, librettist, or producers who treated Butterfly as an objectified stereotype or presented white actors with cosmetically altered skin tones and eye shapes, it may help us understand why Butterfly makes the choices she makes. This is the draw of the opera: the emotional journey of a woman who chooses again and again to act in accord with her own set of morals, even when faced with an impossible situation.