Through a heartless marriage of convenience, American naval officer Lieutenant Pinkerton ensnares young Cio-Cio-San (Butterfly), leading her to a tragic and profoundly unjust fate. A masterpiece of Italian opera, Madame Butterfly‘s lush score and timeless exploration of love, betrayal, and cultural clash soars with operatic grandeur. The enduring power of Butterfly lies in its ability to touch the deepest corners of the human heart, leaving audiences devastated.
Content advisory: Madame Butterfly centers around the arranged marriage of an American naval officer and a Japanese teenage girl (portrayed by an adult) and contains a depiction of suicide.
Principal Cast
Yunuet Laguna
Cio-Cio-San*
Ann Toomey
Cio-Cio-San^
Viktor Antipenko
Lieutenant Pinkerton
Alice Chung
Suzuki
Jarrett Ott
Sharpless
Spencer Hamlin
Goro
Alex Smith
Prince Yamadori
Christian Simmons
The Bonze
Robert Feng
The Imperial Commissioner
Christina Grohowski
Kate Pinkerton
Isla Eisenmenger
Sorrow
Oliver Personett
Sorrow
* Friday and Sunday performances
^ Saturday performance
Creative Team
Roberto Kalb
Conductor
E. Loren Meeker
Director
Nora Winsler
Assistant Director
Christopher Oram
Set and Costume Designer
Driscoll Otto
Lighting Designer
David Zimmerman
Wig and Make-Up Designer
Momo Suzuki
Cultural Advisor & Movement Coordinator
Kevin Suzuki
Cultural Advisor & Movement Coordinator
Engage with the Story
We want you to connect personally and meaningfully to the art on our stage. Patrons who explore our free programs and resources find themselves more engaged with the performance. Dive deeper into Puccini's tragic opera, Madame Butterfly, with these opportunities to enhance your experience!
Community Conversation: Eyes Full of Magic
November 1, 2025 | 10:30 am
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Join Lyric Opera of Kansas City and The Museum of Kansas City for an immersive gathering exploring Japanese American relations, past, present, and future. Deepen your connection to the upcoming production of Madame Butterfly by meeting Miss Shizuoka—a cherished friendship doll gifted from Japan to Kansas City—and viewing an original costume from Boston Opera’s 1910 production of the opera. Bites provided by KC Craft Ramen.
Opera Dives Deep: Tragically Timeless
November 3, 2025 | 6:00 pm
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One of the most popular and widely-performed operas, Madame Butterfly, is a tragic story of unrequited love, betrayal and sacrifice. A time capsule of early twentieth-century cultural perspectives, this piece continues to reach modern audiences with its poignant score and heart wrenching plot. Join us with speaker Dr. Neal Long to rediscover the vivid arias, emotional depths and riveting drama of this classic Puccini opera.
Opera Dives Deep: Between Fantasy and Reality
November 10, 2025 | 6:00 pm
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In fashioning Madame Butterfly, librettists Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa consulted several literary stories written by Westerners with connections to Japan. Composer Giacomo Puccini gathered examples of Japanese music, which he used liberally in the opera's score. While the opera draws heavily on Western tropes about Japan and East Asia, it also contains elements of truth—a combination that has captivated audiences worldwide for over 120 years. Join us with guest speaker Dr. Kunio Hara as we examine this tension between fiction and history, fantasy and reality, within Puccini's “tragedia giapponese” (“Japanese tragedy”).
Photos of the Show
Madame Butterfly photos by Michael Bishop for Houston Grand Opera.
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Show Art
Season Sponsors
With public support from the State of Missouri and the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency.
This project is supported, in part, by the City of Kansas City, Missouri Neighborhood Tourist Development Fund. This performance is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Martha Lee Cain Tranby Music Enrichment Fund.
