Divaria Productions Opera Company's multi-discipline adaptation of “Madame Butterfly” electrified Bay Street audiences Saturday night, and they showed their approval by jumping to their feet and giving a long, rousing ovation.
Based on David Belasco's 1900 one-act play, Giacomo Puccini wrote five versions of this opera. The first two-act version opened at La Scala in 1904, was not well received and quickly closed. Puccini continued to revise it, turning it into a three-act opera with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. This edition had a successful run in New York in November 1906.
JA Diaz's insightful direction brought this tragic love story to life. The story revolves around a young geisha in Nagasaki, Japan, who marries an American naval officer in the early 20th century. Broadway veteran Michael Rudko played the acting version of Sharpless, The US Consul in Nagasaki. Rudko, as narrator, made the show more accessible to audience members who might not be familiar with the story. The well-written narration by Gregory Moomjy and Ashley Galvani Bell helped the audience connect emotionally with the opera and understand the universal themes of deception, illusion, betrayal, white privilege and unrequited love that made it one of the most moving operas of all time. .
Ashley Galvani Bell, founder of Divaria Productions and talented soprano and actress, held the audience spellbound as Cio Cio San, also known as Madame Butterfly. Bell commanded the stage as she expressed the intoxicating joy of being in love and the depth of despair that betrayal inevitably brings. Bell passionately proclaims that she chose “Madame Butterfly” to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Giacomo Puccini's death.
This star-studded cast featured Richard Bernstein, a 29-year member of the Metropolitan Opera Company. He played the role of Bonzo, Cio Cio San's uncle, in The Met: Live HD production of 'Madame Butterfly'. Bernstein reprized that role for Saturday night's Davaria production, and his rich bass voice reverberating across the stage was one of the highlights of the show.
Two other Metropolitan Opera artists brought their A-game to Divaria's production, including tenor and Grammy Award winner Errin Duane Brooks as U.S. Navy Lt. Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton and five-time Grammy Award winner John Easterlin as Goro, the matchmaker who arranged the marriage between Pinkerton and the geisha, Cio Cio San.
Divaria Productions veteran Michael Nansel, with his wonderful baritone voice and expressive facial expressions, gave an award-winning performance in the singing role of Sharpless. Mezzo-soprano Anna Tonna, who portrayed Queen Elizabeth in Divaria's award-winning opera documentary “Rival Queens,” played the role of Suzuki, Cio Cio San's maid and confidante. Amanda Pennfield gave a subtle performance as Kate Pinkerton, Lt. Pinkerton's American wife, whose arrival in Japan causes Madame Butterfly to lose all hope, protect her honor, and follow in her father's footsteps.
Divaria Productions partnered with community members to produce this show. Olivia Fromm, who has appeared in Bay Street summer camps, gave an angelic portrayal of Dolore, Cio Cio San's child. Members of the Suffolk Symphony Chorus, conducted by Brad Drinkwater, performed a choral piece, making a dramatic entrance as they slowly descended the theater steps, holding candles.
Momo and Kevin Suzuki of the Japanese Folk Dance Institute of New York choreographed a visually stunning piece for renowned dancer Yumiko Niimi. The audience was mesmerized by Niimi's hypnotic and graceful dance moves.
Spanish prodigy and pianist Sergio MartÃnez Zangróniz led the string quartet of musicians hailing from the New Asia Chamber Music Society. On violin I was Sophia Su, Violin II: Morning Huang, Viola: Joelle Hsu and Cello: Jane Lee.
This event is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts, supported by the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by the Huntington Arts Council.
To learn more about Ashley Galvani Bell and Divaria Productions, visit their website: https://www.divariaproductions.com/mission-history.
Cindi Sansone-Braff is an award-winning playwright. She holds a BFA in Theater from UCONN and is a member of the Dramatists Guild. She is the author of “Grant Me a Higher Love,” “Why Good People Can't Leave Bad Relationships,” and “Confessions of a Reluctant Long Island Psychic.” Her full-length musical drama, 'Beethoven, The Man, The Myth, The Music', is published by Next Stage Press. www.Grantmeahigherlove.com.
