Citing concerns from members “national Asian-American communities,” Little Rock-based opera company Opera in the Rock is canceling its virtual stream of its 2019 production of Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly, scheduled for of 7 p.m. Friday through 11:59 p.m. Sunday via YouTube and on the opera company website, oitr.org.
Kate Sain, the company’s executive and artistic director, and board chairman Joshua Ang Price, in a letter to patrons, noted that “the sensitive themes in this work may be offensive for Asian-American communities,” adding that the production aimed to provoke thought and “productive dialogue.”
However, they said, “Unfortunately, we missed the mark by choosing to stream it again this year and we wholeheartedly apologize.”
The production had a multi-racial cast but all the principals — soprano Francesca Mondanaro in the role of Cio-Cio San, aka Butterfly; Daniel Foltz-Morrison as Pinkerton; Sarah Stankiewicz Dailey as Suzuki; and Theodor Carlson as Sharpless — were white.