| Madama Butterfly | Oz Opera |
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 Opera Australia's Oz Opera and principal sponsor Australia Post are proud to announce a new touring production of one of the world's favourite operas, Madame Butterfly, directed by one of Australia's most influential actors and directors, John Bell.
In 2008 Madame Butterfly will undertake a 13-week tour to remote and regional locations across four states - Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania and South Australia - beginning its touring season with a performance in Dandenong, Victoria on 5 July 2008 and finishing in Adelaide on 4 October 2008. Along the way, Oz Opera will give 46 performances and visit 29 cities including three which have never experienced an Oz Opera production before: Griffith, Cowra and Broken Hill.
Puccini's moving tale is set in 1946 in the historic city of Nagasaki, a year after the Japanese surrender to the United States. Cio-Cio-San, a fifteen-year-old Geisha girl, is married off to Pinkerton, a lieutenant in the victorious American navy. They fall in love, instantly, but when it is time for Pinkerton to go back home, he discards his fragile Butterfly. And so, caught between two worlds, the old and the new, Madame Butterfly waits. One fine day, she knows, he will return...
Jane Parkin and Elisa Wilson share the role of Cio-Cio-San, whilst David Corcoran and Jason Wasley alternate as the cad Pinkerton. They are joined by Ian Cousins as Sharpless, Victoria Lambourn and Karen van Spall as Co-Cio-San’s faithful Suzuki, Brendon Wickham as Goro, Rohan Thatcher as Prince Yamadori and Eddie Muliaumaseali’I as the Bonze.
Director John Bell explores the work's finely drawn characters against the backdrop of postwar Japan - a visually spectacular clash of traditional geisha designs and modern Western dress - coloured further by Puccini's magnificent score, including the famous ‘Humming Chorus’ and heartbreaking ‘One Fine Day’, performed by an 11-piece chamber orchestra conducted by Simon Kenway and Christopher van Tuinen.
John Bell is one of Australia's most acclaimed actors and directors. He founded the Bell Shakespeare Company in 1991 and is on the National Trust's list of Australian Living Treasures. This is his first collaboration with Oz Opera, and he leads a creative team comprising Julie Lynch (Designer), Matt Scott (Lighting Designer) and Simon Kenway (Music Director) as well as Japanese movement expert, Sachiko Tange. The production is dedicated to Jennie Tate, Madame Butterfly’s original set and costume designer, who passed away in 2007 from breast cancer.
Bell comments: "I am very glad to be staging this wonderful work for Oz Opera. It is a piece that does not necessarily need the resources of a large-scale production: it is a simple domestic tragedy about relatively humble people. Hopefully we will be able to demonstrate the truth of the adage that small is beautiful."
In its fifth year as principal sponsor, Australia Post continues to enable Oz Opera to reach audiences who would not otherwise have the opportunity to experience world-class opera. “We are delighted to help bring one of the most frequently performed and requested operas in the world to regional audiences across Australia,” says Australia Post's Managing Director Mr Graeme John.
“In addition to supporting the regional tour and enabling Oz Opera to stay on the road longer, Australia Post’s sponsorship will allow Madame Butterfly artists and musicians to visit schools during the tour and conduct opera workshops with the kids as part of our ‘Australia Post Opera in Schools Program.”
The Opera in Schools Program will take place at nine schools in Bendigo, Orange, Dubbo, Blacktown, Wollongong, Wagga Wagga, Grafton, Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour.
Oz Opera, Opera Australia's touring arm, celebrates its 12th year of national touring in 2008. It aims to bring great opera to everyone regardless of where they live, taking opera to audiences of all ages in venues throughout metropolitan and regional Australia.
Since 1996 Oz Opera has presented fully-staged operas – complete with costumes, lighting, sets, professional singers and an orchestra – to nearly 140,000 people across Australia covering more than 140,000kms (that’s three times the circumference of the earth). Its productions, designed to be accessible as possible, are sung in English using modern translations. The sets are cleverly designed to pack down into a semi-trailer in less than 5 hours.
“Madame Butterfly is the longest tour ever undertaken by Oz Opera,” says Opera Australia’s Chief Executive, Adrian Collette. “Due to audience and venue demand, the Australian Government through Playing Australia generously provided almost $1million of funding to Oz Opera’s regional tour, a significant investment that will enable Oz Opera to tour Madame Butterfly nationally on a biennial rather than triennial basis.”
In 2009 Madame Butterfly will complete its national tour with performances in ACT, QLD, NT and WA.
Madama Butterfly | Oz Opera
TOUR DATES
Sat 5 Jul 8.00pm Drum Theatre Dandenong VIC
Tue 8 Jul 8.00pm Frankston Arts Centre Frankston VIC
Thu 10 Jul 8.00pm Whitehorse Centre Nunawading VIC
Fri 11 Jul 2.00pm Whitehorse Centre Nunawading VIC
Sat 12 Jul 8.00pm Wyndham Cultural Centre Werribee VIC
Tue 15 Jul 8.00pm Esso BHP Billiton Wellington Entertainment Centre Sale VIC
Thu 17 Jul 8.00pm Karralyka Centre Ringwood VIC
Fri 18 Jul 8.00pm Clocktower Centre Moonee Ponds VIC
Sat 19 Jul 8.00pm Clocktower Centre Moonee Ponds VIC
Tue 22 Jul 8.00pm The Capital Bendigo VIC
Thu 24 Jul 8.00pm Theatre Royal Hobart TAS
Fri 25 Jul 8.00pm Theatre Royal Hobart TAS
Sat 26 Jul 8.00pm Theatre Royal Hobart TAS
Tue 29 Jul 8.00pm Her Majesty's Theatre Ballarat VIC
Thu 31 Jul 8.00pm Swan Hill Town Hall Swan Hill VIC
Sat 2 Aug 7.30pm Griffith Regional Theatre Griffith ** NSW
Tue 5 Aug 8.00pm Cowra Civic Centre Cowra ** NSW
Thu 7 Aug 8.00pm Orange Civic Theatre Orange NSW
Sat 9 Aug 8.00pm Civic Theatre Dubbo NSW
Tue 12 Aug 8.00pm Joan Sutherland PAC Penrith NSW
Wed 13 Aug 8.00pm Joan Sutherland PAC Penrith NSW
Fri 15 Aug 8.00pm Riverside Theatre Parramatta NSW
Sat 16 Aug 8.00pm Riverside Theatre Parramatta NSW
Mon 18 Aug 8.00pm Riverside Theatre Parramatta NSW
Thu 21 Aug 8.00pm Illawarra PAC Wollongong NSW
Fri 22 Aug 8.00pm Illawarra PAC Wollongong NSW
Sat 23 Aug 8.00pm Illawarra PAC Wollongong NSW
Wed 27 Aug 8.00pm Albury City PAC Albury NSW
Fri 29 Aug 8.00pm Paradise Palladium Theatre Morundah NSW
Sat 30 Aug 8.00pm Paradise Palladium Theatre Morundah NSW
Tue 2 Sep 8.00pm Civic Theatre Wagga Wagga NSW
Wed 3 Sep 8.00pm Civic Theatre Wagga Wagga NSW
Fri 5 Sep 8.00pm Civic Theatre Newcastle NSW
Sat 6 Sep 8.00pm Civic Theatre Newcastle NSW
Tue 9 Sep 8.00pm Lazenby Hall Armidale NSW
Sat 13 Sep 8.00pm Grafton High School Centre Grafton NSW
Tue 16 Sep 8.00pm Panthers Port Macquarie NSW
Wed 17 Sep 8.00pm Panthers Port Macquarie NSW
Sat 20 Sep 8.00pm Sportz Central Coffs Harbour NSW
Wed 24 Sep 8.00pm Broken Hill Entertainment Centre Broken Hill ** NSW
Fri 26 Sep 8.00pm Mildura Performing Arts Centre Mildura VIC
Sat 27 Sep 8.00pm Mildura Performing Arts Centre Mildura VIC
Wed 1 Oct 8.00pm Her Majesty's Theatre Adelaide SA
Thu 2 Oct 8.00pm Her Majesty's Theatre Adelaide SA
Wed 3 Oct 8.00pm Her Majesty's Theatre Adelaide SA
Thu 4 Oct 8.00pm Her Majesty's Theatre Adelaide SA
Further information: www.opera-australia.org.au
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