Meet the Cast of MADAMA BUTTERFLY

We asked the cast of Madama Butterfly about the work’s complex cultural legacy, as well as their favourite musical moments, pre-performance rituals, and early encounters with opera.

Read on to discover who can’t wait to visit Tim Hortons and who fell asleep during her first visit to the opera—then check out these talented singers in action at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts from January 24!

Eri Nakamura, soprano
Cio-Cio San

COC: Puccini and Madama Butterfly have a complicated history of reckoning with cultural and gender stereotypes. How important are creative decisions when it comes to addressing these challenges?

Nakamura: I prefer to avoid a caricature of “geisha” make-up for Japanese roles, especially for Cio-Cio San in the wedding scene. It’s the day she becomes a normal girl again without acting as a geisha since her father died, so I ask almost every time not to put too much oshiroi on my face. I think if a production shows enough sensitivity and respect to the music and text, the staging of it should work. The same could be said for all operas, I hope.

COC: How does the music of Madama Butterfly serve the story, and do you have a favourite musical moment from the opera?

Nakamura: It makes me smile a little when I hear Suzuki’s very first line, which sounds like my Japanese friend or neighbour telling me the latest gossip or something exciting in Japanese. Also Goro and Cio-Cio San have quick lines with a melody that sounds like they’re talking in Japanese, too.

My favourite scenes, musically, are my entrance and the scene after the cannon, then into the flower duet. Both are Cio-Cio San’s happiest scenes and the music is just sensational.

COC: Do you have a favourite Toronto hangout?

Nakamura: I couldn’t go out when I was last in Toronto, due to the pandemic, so I’m looking forward to exploring more this winter. At the very least I would like to master how to order at Tim Hortons!

COC: What’s one thing that people might be surprised to learn about you?

Nakamura: I wanted to become a volleyball player when I was a child, but I was too small.

COC: Do you have any opera superstitions or pre-performance rituals?

Nakamura: If possible I try to come on stage before the show and give a little prayer.

COC: What's your go-to winter comfort food?

Nakamura: I love having chowder or fish pie in winter. As a Japanese, ramen is also good of course!

Kang Wang, tenor
Pinkerton

COC: How does the music of Madama Butterfly serve the story, and do you have a favourite musical moment from the opera?

Wang: The part that used to puzzle me the most was why Puccini gave such beautiful and tender music for Pinkerton, who is such a despicable character in the story, and I gradually came to understand the reason during my preparation: ill intentions sometimes can be disguised by the most fabulous appearances, and to see something so beautiful and tender shattered to pieces is what strikes the audiences emotionally the most. But my favourite musical moment from the opera must be when Cio-Cio San sings [her final] aria. The power of the raw emotion released by Puccini's music brings tears to me every single time.

COC: Do you have any other opera villains that you love to hate?

Wang: Scarpia for sure, from Tosca, and also Macbeth.

COC: What's one thing that people might be surprised to learn about you?

Wang: I have a Bachelor of Information Technology and worked as a programmer for three years before quitting my job and enrolling full-time in a conservatory.
 
COC: Do you have any opera superstitions or pre-performance rituals?

Wang: Not really, but I really like having microwaved sweet potatoes for dinner before a performance.

COC: What's your go-to winter comfort food?

Wang: Chinese hot pot with sliced lamb, with a dip of minced garlic and sesame sauce mixed together. Some call it "Beijing style hotpot". Or fried chicken, but that really is my go-to comfort food for just about any season!

COC: Tell us about your first opera experience, either as an audience member or as a performer.

Wang: My first opera experience as a performer was as Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi. It was my first year at the conservatory and my costume design was based on John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, with a leather jacket and red shirt.

Hyona Kim, mezzo-soprano
Suzuki

COC: Madama Butterfly has a complicated legacy. How do you explain its enduring appeal?

Kim: I believe in the power of Puccini’s music and the tragic story of Cio-Cio San. Given that it was originally based on a semi-autobiographical novel, we can easily imagine that there could have been many true Cio-Cio San stories. We see and feel for those women through Madama Butterfly and I think this is a big part of its enduring appeal.

COC: What most attracts you to your character?

Kim: I often say Suzuki is the only “sane” character in the opera. She is such a realistic person but also a very sympathetic person at the same time, and I like that very much about her.

COC: What’s your favourite moment in this opera?

Kim: When we hear the cannon of Pinkerton’s ship and the excitement and joy after three years of longing explode throughout the flower duet. It is not only a very joyful and beautiful moment but also a super sad one since we all know what is coming shortly.

COC: What’s one thing that people might be surprised to learn about you?

Kim: I believe this production will be the 11th time that I get to perform Suzuki!

COC: Tell us about your first opera experience, either as an audience member or as a performer.

Kim: My first opera as an audience member was La Traviata, according to my parents. My mom said I fell asleep after 30 minutes and snored from time to time, so she got a bit embarrassed. I don’t remember anything at all. I was only seven years old, so please don’t judge me! I love Verdi. 

Michael Sumuel, bass-baritone
Sharpless

COC: What’s your favourite moment in this opera?

Sumuel: My favorite moment in Madama Butterfly is the scene when Butterfly reveals her son to Sharpless. Puccini perfectly scores this triumphant moment. From that moment forward, everything in the opera shifts.

COC: What’s one thing that people might be surprised to learn about you?

Sumuel: I’m not certain it’s still a secret but I had no interest in becoming a professional classical singer when I began my vocal performance studies at Columbus State University. Things didn’t fully click until I heard a fellow voice student perform Schumann lieder at a vocal convocation halfway through my sophomore year. I instantly and completely fell in love with art song. Schumann led to Mozart and Mozart fully opened my heart and ears to the entire world of opera and oratorio.