Get To Know the Cast of Madama Butterfly
- FWO Marketing
- 13 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Miho Sakoda - Cio Cio San
Zach Borichevsky - Pinkerton
Kayla Nanto - Suzuki
Corey Trahan - Goro
Goro’s ambition and careful maneuvering quietly set the tragedy of Madama Butterfly in motion. What do you think about his role in the story, and how do you give that kind of presence shape and three-dimensional texture on stage?
I see Goro as the quiet spark that sets the whole tragedy in motion. He’s not the villain, but he’s the one who turns people into transactions, and that creates the world where Butterfly’s heartbreak becomes possible. I play him as someone who’s always calculating — even when he’s still, he’s watching for the next opportunity. Onstage, I give him quick, precise gestures and a focused energy, like he’s always trying to stay one step ahead. By arming him with clear motives instead of caricature, he becomes a three‑dimensional presence.
You’ve performed a wide range of roles across opera, musical theatre, and oratorio, while also leading the Opera Studio at TCU. How have your experiences as both performer and educator shaped your perspectives as an artist, and where does Goro fit within that evolution?
Working as both a performer and an educator has really shaped how I see myself as an artist. Performing keeps me honest — it reminds me what it feels like to be vulnerable, to take risks, to solve problems in real time. Teaching, on the other hand, forces me to articulate why choices matter and how technique supports storytelling. The two roles feed complement each other.
Goro fits into that evolution because he’s a great example of a character who can easily be played flat. Approaching him now, with years of performing and teaching behind me, I’m more interested in his ambition, his instincts, and what he wants. Instead of treating him like a stock character, I look for the small, specific behaviors that make him feel real. That blend of curiosity, craft, and empathy is something I’ve gained from living on both sides of the rehearsal room.
As both an educator and performer, you spend a great deal of time thinking about how characters are interpreted. In Madama Butterfly, Goro can easily be dismissed as merely opportunistic. What do you think audiences might miss about him, and what might deserve reconsideration?
As both a performer and a teacher, I’m always looking for the behavior underneath the label we give a character. With Goro, people often stop at “opportunistic,” but that flattens him. What audiences might miss is how much he’s shaped by the world he lives in — a world built on transactions, hierarchy, and survival. He’s constantly reading the room, adjusting, positioning himself.
What deserves reconsideration is his complexity. He’s not just popping a fan to punctuate text; he’s navigating things the only way he knows how. When I approach him with that mindset, he becomes a much more interesting—and unsettling—presence onstage.
Weston Hurt - Sharpless
Sharpless is often described as the opera’s moral compass and occupies a fascinating dramatic space as both participant and observer. How do you approach portraying a character who recognizes the tragedy unfolding but is ultimately powerless to stop it?
I had the great honor of working with the director Frank Corsaro during my time at The Juilliard Opera Center and later at New York City Opera. In his book, MAVERICK, he challenges the artist portraying the character to see Sharpless as someone far closer to themselves rather than what might be on the page.
While Sharpless does try to convince Pinkerton to consider the negative implications of his decision to marry Butterfly, I believe that Sharpless struggles quite a bit with his own failed past decisions. Perhaps he had a failed marriage and never had the opportunity to be a father which leads to his disapproval of Pinkerton’s actions and his desire to protect Dolore.
Sharpless operates in a space between power and powerlessness: he recognizes the injustice around him but can only attempt to soften its consequences. In this way, his story speaks to the limits and moral obligations of those who witness wrongdoing but lack the authority to change it.
Looking more broadly at your career, what roles have shaped you most as an artist, and where does Sharpless fit within that journey?
I’ve had the opportunity to sing a number of roles that I find parts of myself woven into. As an artist who was born with a limb difference, I challenge myself to find backstories for how these characters that I am singing lost their own right hand.
Through thoughtful insight from source material along with what the composer and librettist gives us, I find motivation as to why any character might act the way they do. I feel strongly that every role that I have performed has assisted in shaping me as an artist and Sharpless sits on top of that list, as he is the role I have sung most often. This will be my 23rd production of Madama Butterfly and through the years my opinion on Sharpless has changed dramatically. I initially joked with friends that Sharpless is rather “dull” - He doesn’t really get an aria and he’s always just saying, “Giudizio” (Be careful) !
Over the years as I have matured in my own life I am able to portray a far more complex and interesting Sharpless focused on the sympathy and respect that he feels for Butterfly, Suzuki, and Dolore while simultaneously dealing with his own shortcomings.
As you bring this role to Fort Worth, what do you hope modern audiences take away from Sharpless, particularly in how this story speaks to power, responsibility, and cultural understanding today?
I hope our Fort Worth audience sees Sharpless as a deeply human character—someone flawed, yet guided by kindness and a desire to do what’s right within a painful situation. Though it’s heartbreaking to witness his suggestion in Act 3 that Butterfly allow Dolore to return to the United States with Pinkerton and his new wife, I believe Sharpless views this as the most compassionate path toward ensuring the child’s future and prompting Pinkerton to face his responsibilities.
As artists, our goal is to find the humanity in these complex roles—to hold up a mirror for the audience that reflects both the dangers of apathy and the necessity of empathy. If audiences leave with a greater understanding of how compassion and cultural sensitivity might bridge divides, then we’ve done something meaningful.
Comments