MIDDLEBURY — This Saturday, Nov. 16, the Met will present an encore performance of “Madama Butterfly,” which will be rebroadcast at Town Hall Theater at 1 p.m.
Soprano Hui He takes on the heartbreaking title role of the doomed geisha, with tenor Andrea Carè as the American naval officer who abandons her. Paulo Szot takes the role of Sharpless, and Pier Giorgio Morandi is on the podium for Anthony Minghella’s sweeping production, a perennial audience favorite.
The title character of “Madama Butterfly” — a young Japanese geisha who clings to the belief that her arrangement with a visiting American naval officer is a loving and permanent marriage — is one of the defining roles in opera. The story triggers ideas about cultural and sexual imperialism for people far removed from the opera house, and film, Broadway, and popular culture in general have riffed endlessly on it. The lyric beauty of Puccini’s score, especially the music for the thoroughly believable lead role, has made Butterfly timeless.
Scott Morrison will give a pre-show talk at Town Hall Theater, downstairs in the Byers Studio at 12:15 p.m. with refreshments. Tickets are $24, $10 for students and may be purchased at townhalltheater.org, by calling (802) 382-9222, at the THT box office Monday-Saturday, 12-5 p.m., or at the door an hour before show time.