Madame Butterfly: A Tragedy of Japan is a play in one act by David Belasco adapted from John Luther Long's 1898 short story "Madame Butterfly". It premiered on March 5, 1900, at the Herald Square Theatre in New York City and became one of Belasco's most famous works. The play and Long's short story served as the basis for the libretto of Puccini's 1904 opera, Madama Butterfly. The title role was originally played in New York and London by Blanche Bates; in 1900–01 in New York by Valerie Bergere;[1] and in 1913 by Clara Blandick.
as Cho Cho San (ca. 1902).
Production
Madame Butterfly was first performed March 5, 1900, at the Herald Square Theatre in New York City, after the curtain raiser Naughty Anthony.[2] The play was written and produced by David Belasco, with scenic design by Ernest Gros; incidental music was composed by William Furst.[3]
Cast
- Blanche Bates as Cho-Cho-San[2]
- Claude Gillingwater as Mr. Sharpless[2]
- Frank Worthing as Lieut. B. F. Pinkerton[2]
- Albert Bruning as Yamadori.[2]
- E. P. Wilks as Nakado[2]
- Mary Barker as Suzuki[2]
- Katharine Black as Kate[2]
- Little Kittle as "Trouble"[2]
See also
Further reading
- Clapp, John Bouvé and Edgett, Edwin Francis (1902). Plays of the Present. Dunlap Society, pp. 165–167
- Girardi, Michele (2002). Puccini: His International Art. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-29758-6
- Kerr, Douglas (1991). "David Henry Hwang and the Revenge of Madame Butterfly" in Asian Voices in English, Roy Harris (ed.). Hong Kong University Press, pp. 119–130. ISBN 962-209-282-9
- van Rij, Jan (2001). Madame Butterfly: Japonisme, Puccini, & the Search for the Real Cho-Cho-San. Stone Bridge Press. ISBN 1-880656-52-3
References
External links
- Madame Butterfly at the Internet Broadway Database
- Full text of Madame Butterfly, A Tragedy of Japan (from "Six Plays" Little, Brown 1928)
- The stories of Madame Butterfly, a comparison of Long's short story, Belasco's play, and Puccini's opera.
- Madame Butterfly - catalog record for the incidental music used for the play (part of the Belasco Collection in the Music Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts).