Following a year-long investigation into Puccini’s timeless opera called The Butterfly Process, I worked with the brilliant Nina Yoshida Nelsen and an all-Asian American creative team to create a reimagined “Madama Butterfly.” The production was critically acclaimed, garnering a Best of 2023 in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and Broadway World.
Photos by Ken Yotsukura
Madama Butterfly
Stage Director and Librettist
Boston Lyric Opera
Premiere: September 2023
Colonial Theater, Boston
Music
Music Direction: David Angus
Music: Giacomo Puccini
Set Design: Yu Shibagaki
Costume Design: Sara Ryung Clement
Lighting Design: Jeanette Yu
Choreography: Michael Sakamoto
“A staggering emotional experience …This ‘Butterfly’ stands strong as a poignant American tragedy…This show
should have wings!”
“Phil Chan’s reimagined “Madama Butterfly,” presented by the Boston Lyric Opera, that stayed with me for weeks. Set between 1940s San Francisco and a Japanese incarceration camp in Arizona, the opulently staged opera doubled as a searing indictment of the American Dream, and who’s permitted to live it.”
“Ingenious! Terrifically reimagined and performed…a plausible, diverting and
ultimately gripping new version.”
“I respect your decision to spend the time and resources for the Butterfly Process, and not to simply reproduce or cancel the Madame Butterfly. I believe that the Process was meaningful not only for Asian Americans or Americans in general, but also for Japanese. I personally appreciate the sensitivity and attention paid to the question of Asian stereotypes.”