Houston Grand Opera Opens Season With New Production of Madame Butterfly 10/22

Houston Grand Opera (HGO) launches its 56th season with Giacomo Puccini's Madame Butterfly. "Madame Butterfly is all at once extraordinarily popular and heartbreaking," explained HGO's General Director and CEO Anthony Freud. "We present it here with a new production in the hopes of bringing it to life in a way that is as thought-provoking and stimulating as these great masterpieces deserve." Puccini's tragic love story runs in the Wortham Theater Center's Brown Auditorium from October 22 - November 05, 2010

Madame Butterfly was last performed by HGO in 2004 and returns to the Wortham Theater Center in a new production by the 2010 Tony Award-winning team of director Michael Grandage, set/costume designer Christopher Oram, and lighting designer Neil Austin. No strangers to the stage awards circuit, the production team has won multiple entertainment awards in the fifteen years of their working relationship. Highlights of their career include Tony Awards for Red (2010), Laurence Olivier Awards for Guys and Dolls (2006) and Grand Hotel (2005), the 2010 Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Play, Outstanding Director and Outstanding Lighting (Red, 2010) and the Tony Award nomination for Frost/Nixon (2009). The celebrated team has just made their U.K. operatic debut at the Glyndebourne Festival with a critically-acclaimed production of Britten's Billy Budd, and will revive their celebrated West End production of Evita on Broadway in spring 2012. The new HGO production marks the London-based design team's first opera for a U.S. company.

"As a production team we have worked almost exclusively in the theater," noted Grandage who described his production of Madame Butterfly as taking its inspiration from traditional Japanese art, and set in a fascinating and interesting period of history. "I'm excited to work with Houston Grand Opera on such an important and beautiful piece of the operatic repertory."

Soprano Ana María Martínez, who according to Opera Magazine "requires ranking among the top lyric sopranos of the day," makes a major role debut as Cio-Cio-San, the central character in Madame Butterfly. The Grammy Award-winning soprano was last heard at HGO as Nedda in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci (2008). "Season after season, I am most excited about major artists choosing Houston Grand Opera to make major role debuts," explains Freud. "Ana María Martínez returning to HGO to make her role debut as Butterfly will make for an exciting, thrilling and moving evening of theater." An alumna of HGO Studio, Ana María Martínez has also performed in thirteen HGo Productions including Donna Elivra in Mozart's Don Giovanni (2006), Mimi in Puccini's La Boheme (2008) and most recently as Nedda in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci (2008).

Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja makes his HGO debut as Lieutenant B. F. Pinkerton. Other HGO debuts include American mezzo-soprano Lucy Schaufer as Suzuki, Butterfly's loyal and loving servant, and American baritone Levi Hernandez as the American consul Sharpless. Tenor Rodell Rosel (Squeak in Britten's Billy Budd, HGO 2008) returns to sing the role of Goro, the marriage broker. HGO music director Patrick Summers, beginning his thirteenth season at HGO, will lead the HGO orchestra.

Following the October 22 performance of Madame Butterfly the company will host its annual black tie Opening Night Dinner Celebration at the Wortham Theater Center on Ray C. Fish Plaza. Guests will be immersed in the world of Madame Butterfly with décor by The Events Company, culinary creations by Tony's Catering and elixirs by Pommery and The Tasting Room. This year's opening night celebration, chaired by Margaret Alkek Williams and underwritten by Donna and Robert Bruni, will honor Franci and Jim Crane.

Madame Butterfly opens on Friday, October 22, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. in the Brown Theater at the Wortham Theater Center. All other performances will begin at 7:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. for Sunday matinees. Madame Butterfly will be performed in Italian with English surtitles.
Additionally the company will present two student matinèes (Tuesday, November 02 and Saturday, November 06, 2010), a High School Night performance (Thursday, November 04, 2010), and a special NEXUS Initiative matinee (Sunday, November 07, 2010) featuring acclaimed soprano Cynthia Clayton (Cio-Cio-San), tenor Nathaniel Peake (Pinkerton), baritone Michael Sumuel (Sharpless), and mezzo-soprano Catherine Martin (Suzuki).

Performance Summary
All performances of Houston Grand Opera's production of Puccini's Madame Butterfly are held in the Wortham Center's Brown Theater, Texas Avenue at Smith Street, Houston, TX.
Sung in Italian with English surtitles.

Performance Dates

Friday, October 22, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.* †
Sunday, October 24, 2010 at 2:00 p.m.
Saturday, October 30, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, November 02, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, November 05, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.

* ON for Young Professionals intermission mixer and performance
† Opening Night Dinner following performance

Ticket Information:
· Season tickets are on sale now starting at $84.00 for all six operas. Single tickets for Madame Butterfly, will go on sale September 26, 2010.

· Tickets maybe obtained online at www.houstongrandopera.org or by phone at 713-228-OPERA (6737) or 1-800-62-OPERA (800-626-7372)

· Tickets are also available at the HGO Box Office (in the lobby of the Wortham Theater Center) from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday. The Box Office operates on weekend performance days from 11:00 a.m. till the first intermission (hours are subject to change).

· All performances will take place at the Wortham Theater Center, 501 Texas Avenue, Houston, Texas 77002. The Wortham Theater Center features wheelchair access to both theaters, with a choice of seating locations and ticket prices. An infrared listening system, underwritten by Shell Lubricants, is available and free of charge at all performances. Disabled access and TDD: 713-228-OPERA (6737) or 1-800-62-OPERA (800-626-7372); Descriptive Services: 713-546-0230.

· Opera Insights Lectures take place forty-five minutes before each performance. Guest speakers present a twenty-minute informal lecture in the orchestra level of the Brown Theater. These lectures, free and open to all ticket holders, are intended to enhance the audience's enjoyment by preparing them for the production they are about to attend.

Since its inception in 1955, Houston Grand Opera has swiftly moved from a small regional organization into an internationally renowned opera company. The company has a reputation for commissioning and producing new works (40 world premieres and six American premieres since 1973) as well as a reputation for reaching out to new audiences. HGO has toured extensively, including trips to Europe and Asia, and it is the only opera company to have won a Tony, two Grammy, and two Emmy awards. Houston Grand Opera's productions are broadcast nationally over the WFMT network, and internationally over the European Broadcasting Union, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.