Stage and Cinema
- Highly Recommended
"...I loved the new direction of this intentionally more Asian production of Madama Butterfly. Although I can’t say that it overcomes all of the shortcomings of the opera’s problematic source material, it certainly engages with it creatively and sensitively. While the VR framing of the narrative isn’t wholly successful, it does lighten the mood of an otherwise tragic tale and updates it with a more contemporary feel that might connect better with younger audiences. Let’s hope that this is just the first of many Lyric efforts to reimagine beloved, problematic operas."
Around The Town Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...A production like this is taking a risk. People who enjoy a straight telling of Madama Butterfly may not like it or the artists’ angst over whether opera goers can tell the difference between reality and fiction, and attempts to challenge the text could be lost on people who don’t already know it or its history."
Buzz Center Stage
- Highly Recommended
"...In the final scene, where only pathos is expected, this presentation all but blinds you with the complex beauty of real life through the fiction of a story. Ozawa’s brilliant directing, Son’s gifts as a marvelous actress/vocalist and Puccini’s stunning score converge to cause the soul to quake."
Chicagoland Musical Theatre
- Recommended
"...Overall, I think the conceit works. It respects the original opera without alienating anyone seeing it for the first time. It may gently persuade the don't-touch-perfection skeptics that these old warhorses might have some flexibility in them yet. And for anyone leery of the residue of "Butterfly's" politics, this is not a production that lets Pinkerton off the hook. (In several senses of the phrase; watching the action unfold through a headset, Johnson seldom leaves the stage.)"
Chicago On Stage
- Highly Recommended
"...There’s only so much room in one production to defang a cultural configuration as pernicious as the Butterfly trope, which has had disastrous and far-reaching effects on the western perception of Asian women. But Ozawa’s masterful, subtle touches here show a path forward. It helps that the opera stars a fine cast anchored by Son’s grounded, heartbreaking turn in the title role. But the framing device and modern, well-crafted design tilts Puccini’s work on its axis just enough to allow the audience another angle into the text. If a piece like Madama Butterfly is going to stay in the repertory, this type of directorial vision that reframes our understanding, is key to refreshing it for contemporary audiences."
Splash Magazine
- Highly Recommended
"...Visually, this production goes all in, and it pays off. The jump from the dull apartment—complete with bizarre, funny moments like geishas stepping out of a refrigerator—into a neon-drenched, stylized version of Japan is wild in the best way. Think bold greens, exaggerated costumes, and designs that feel pulled straight from anime or a video game. Pinkerton’s uniform alone, with its sharp, almost alien structure, makes a statement. It’s imaginative, weird, and incredibly fun to look at, easily standing alongside some of the Lyric’s most visually ambitious productions like Queen of Spades, Faust, and The Magic Flute."
