Washington National Opera Brings Madama Butterfly Up Close at DAR Constitution Hall

Washington National Opera has opened its 2026/27 season with a Madama Butterfly that looks and feels unlike the Puccini audiences may be used to. Staged at DAR Constitution Hall on a custom-built thrust platform the company calls its "Revolutionary Stage," the production does away with the wide gulf that usually separates singers from their audience. The result is an evening of opera that plays out at close range, where every glance and gesture registers as clearly as the music.

Director E. Loren Meeker takes full advantage of that closeness. Working on Walt Spangler's multi-level set, a dreamlike landscape that surrounds the action rather than framing it, she gives the story an almost cinematic sweep while keeping its focus on the psychology of its characters and the cultural collision at its heart. The Washington National Opera Orchestra, led by conductor Erin Yashima, sits on stage behind the performers instead of in a pit out front, an arrangement that keeps the sound balanced and lets the voices carry directly into the hall. Costumes originally designed by Florence Klotz evoke Nagasaki at the turn of the twentieth century, and movement and choreography by Kanji Segawa and Jessica Land give the ensemble scenes color and shape.

At the center is South Korean soprano Karah Son, making her company debut as Cio-Cio-San. She is the emotional core of the evening, and her "Un bel dì" pairs full operatic power with a vulnerability that the intimate staging lets the audience read on her face. Tenor Matthew White brings a rich, ringing voice to Lieutenant Pinkerton, a difficult and divisive character, and his first-act love duet with Son is one of the night's high points. Mezzo-soprano Michelle Mariposa is a devoted, protective Suzuki, and her voice blends beautifully with Son's in the Flower Duet as the two scatter cherry blossoms across the stage.

The supporting company is strong throughout, with Will Liverman as the American consul Sharpless, Rodell Rosel as the scheming marriage broker Goro, Atticus Rego as Butterfly's enraged uncle, Chandler Benn in two roles as both the wealthy suitor and the registrar, Lauren Carroll as Kate Pinkerton, and Robert Frazier as the Imperial Commissioner.

For longtime opera lovers and newcomers alike, this is a chance to experience one of the most beloved works in the repertoire with its traditional barriers stripped away, leaving a Butterfly that is intimate, raw, and visually striking.

Madama Butterfly is sung in Italian with projected English titles and runs approximately two hours and 40 minutes, including one intermission.