Ridgefield to Screen the Met's MADAMA BUTTERFLY

Hui He stars as Cio-Cio-San, the devoted geisha who gives everything for the American naval officer Pinkerton, sung by Andrea Carè. Elizabeth DeShong is her devoted companion Suzuki, and Brazilian baritone Paulo Szot adds a new role to his Met repertory as Sharpless, a role that he has previously sung at Marseilles Opera. Pier Giorgio Morandi conducts Anthony Minghella's beautiful, atmospheric production. See an encore presentation of The Metropolitan Opera's Madama Butterfly in HD on the big screen at The Ridgefield Playhouse on Sunday, November 10 at 12:55pm, part of the Classical Series underwritten by Jeanne Cook, Liz & Steven Goldstone, and Sabina & Walter Slavin, with support from Whistle Stop Bakery.

A Tony Award-winner for his performance on Broadway in Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific, Paulo Szot made his Met debut in 2010 as Kovalyov in the company premiere of Shostakovich's The Nose. His other roles with the company include Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen, Lescaut in the 2012 new production premiere of Massenet's Manon, Dr. Falke in Strauss' Die Fledermaus, and the Captain in John Adams's The Death of Klinghoffer. Other roles this season include Frank in Weill's Street Scene at Opéra de Monte-Carlo and Don Alfonso in Mozart's Così fan tutte at the Paris Opera.

In Japan, at the turn of the 20th century, Lieutenant Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton of the U.S. Navy inspects a house overlooking Nagasaki harbor that he is leasing from Goro, a marriage broker. The house comes with three servants and a geisha wife named Cio-Cio-San, known as Madam Butterfly. The lease runs for 999 years, subject to monthly renewal. Pinkerton describes his philosophy of the fearless Yankee roaming the world in search of experience and pleasure to The American consul, Sharpless. He is not sure whether his feelings for the young girl are love or a whim, but he intends to go through with the marriage ceremony. Sharpless warns him that the girl may view the marriage differently, but Pinkerton brushes off such concerns and says someday he will take a real, American wife. One of the most heartbreaking operas of all time, Puccini's Madama Butterfly is a staple of opera around the world.

The Metropolitan Opera is a vibrant home for the most creative and talented singers, conductors, composers, musicians, stage directors, designers, visual artists, choreographers, and dancers from around the world. The Ridgefield Playhouse offers free tickets to The Metropolitan Opera in HD series to students 18 and younger as a way for parents to introduce their children to the arts. FREE tickets are also available to students 18 and younger for live and encore HD screenings of The Bolshoi Ballet and National Theatre of London.

For tickets ($25 | Members & Seniors $20 | Students $15 | FREE for students 18 and under) call or visit the box office, 203-438-5795 or go online at ridgefieldplayhouse.org. The Ridgefield Playhouse is a non-profit performing arts center located at 80 East Ridge, parallel to Main Street, Ridgefield, CT.

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