KIMONO DRAMA AT THE PLAYHOUSE : DESERT OPERA TROUPE STAGES TRAGIC `MADAMA BUTTERFLY'.Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Daily News Staff Writer Desert Opera Theater brings to Palmdale Playhouse a more demanding production than its musicals and operettas of the past two years. Singers and musicians from around Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, will perform Giacomo Puccini's ``Madama Butterfly Madama Butterfly (Madame Butterfly) is an opera in three acts (originally two acts) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. ,'' the 1904 opera that tells the tragic story of a geisha A Geisha (祇園囃子 Gion Bayashi who falls in love with and is betrayed by an American naval officer NAVAL OFFICER. The name of an officer of the United States, whose duties are prescribed by various acts of congress. 2. Naval officers are appointed for the term of four years, but are removable from office at pleasure. Act of May 15, 1820, Sec. 1, 3 Story, L. in turn-of-the-century Japan. ``Butterfly is one of the great roles,'' said Susanna Zonis, one of two sopranos who will star alternate nights on the six-show run. ``It reaches the absolute depths of despair and it has to be sung in a way that reaches the absolute depths of your soul.'' Seemingly out of step with late 20th century political correctness politically correct adj. Abbr. PC 1. Of, relating to, or supporting broad social, political, and educational change, especially to redress historical injustices in matters such as race, class, gender, and sexual orientation. , ``Madama Butterfly'' remains one of the best loved operas for its beautiful melodies and tragic story. One reviewer summarized its plot: ``A woman kills herself out of love, while lover boy sails into the sunrise to live happily ever after The term happily ever after is used in association with many works of children’s fiction and romantic fiction. It describes a happy ending, often a cliché in which all the good characters have emerged victorious and all the evil characters have been punished. with wife No. 2.'' Butterfly is a geisha contracted to marry Lt. Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton. For her it is love - for him, a convenience, considering he is about to depart for America to wed an American woman. Butterfly waits for three years for her officer to return, not knowing that when he does he will bring with him his American wife. At his return, Pinkerton discovers that Butterfly has given birth to his son, and asks permission to bring the boy back to America. Butterfly agrees, and tells them to return later for the child while she prepares her son to leave. When Pinkerton returns, he finds Butterfly dead by her own hand. ``The music is very demanding. It is very emotionally complex as well as musically complex,'' said director Bill Dearth, a furniture company shipping and receiving department manager who has directed two or three Desert Opera Shows a year since 1989. ``It's a bit different than putting on a musical, just because of the intensity of the music and the intensity of the emotions.'' The starring role is so demanding - for the technical difficulties of the music and the sheer amount of singing - that two women will share the role in Palmdale. In most productions, performances are spaced several days apart to give the star a rest, but the Palmdale schedule did not allow that. Zonis, a free-lance writer and educator from the Santa Susana Santa Susana can refer to several places:
Cynthia Casey will sing opening night, Sunday and April 5. Casey, a La Crescenta resident who works as an administrative assistant at Good Samaritan Hospital Good Samaritan Hospital may refer to: In the United States:
Concert hall in New York, N.Y., U.S. It was endowed by the industrialist Andrew Carnegie at the insistence of the conductor Walter Damrosch (1862–1950). . She has performed with the Orpheus Lyric Theater in Altadena and the Santa Cecelia Opera in Los Angeles. In addition to having two Butterflys, the Palmdale production has two boys who alternate as Butterfly's 3-year-old son: Jonathan Kum, 6, and Ian Rico, 5. The producers made a special effort to include youngsters, who also perform in the chorus and as servants. ``Desert Opera Theater is really starting to branch out in education, in educating the valley on opera and this is one way we did it, opening the casting up and supplementing the chorus and the cast with children,'' said Cindy Smith, the production and stage manager, and music teacher at Sacred Heart School Sacred Heart School may refer to one of these schools: In the United States
THE FACTS WHAT: ``Madama Butterfly.'' WHERE: Palmdale Playhouse, 38334 10th St. E. WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday, 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, 8 p.m. April 4, 8 p.m. April 5, 2 p.m. April 6. COST: $12 adults, $8 students, $10 seniors and military personnel. Behind the scenes: Music by Giacomo Puccini. Directed by Bill Dearth. Principal roles sung by Susanna Zonis, Cynthia Casey, Ernest Sturdevant and Ernie Sawyer. CALL: (805) 267-5685. CAPTION(S): 5 Photos Photo: (1--Color only in AV edition) Susanna Zonis, one of two performers alternating in the title role of ``Madama Butterfly,'' performs during the opera's dress rehearsal. (2--Ran in AV edition only--Color) Ernest Sturdevant, as Lt. Pinkerton, meets Cynthia Casey's Butterfly at the Palmdale Playhouse. (3--Ran in AV edition only) The Desert Opera Theater made an effort to include children in its production of Puccini's ``Madama Butterfly,'' as evident in this scene from the opera opening Friday. (4--Ran in AV edition only) Director Bill Dearth, right, instructs two sets of actors playing the same roles, Susanna Zonis and Jonathan Kum, left, and Cynthia Casey and Ian Rico. (5--Color only in AV edition) Ernest Sturdevant, as Lt. Pinkerton, meets Cynthia Casey's Butterfly at Palmdale Playhouse. Jeff Goldwater/Daily News |
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