the works of John Luther Long and David Belasco
Creative/Crew
Cast
Madama Butterfly, Cio-Cio-San
Pinkerton, Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy
Suzuki, Cio-Cio-San's servant
Sharpless, United States Consul at Nagasaki
Goro, a marriage broker
The Bonze, Cio-Cio-San's Uncle
Prince Yamadori
Kate Pinkerton
Imperial Commissioner
Official Registrar
Trouble
Show Dates
Broadcast
Live broadcast, Act II.
Time and Place
About 1900; Nagasaki, Japan
Scenes
Media
Notes
To access the full production program, click the PDF link above.
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The performance of November 3 was a student matinee, presented by the San Francisco Opera Guild
10/18/1939, live broadcast, Act II: "Madama Butterfly: Jarmila Novotná (Cio-Cio-San), Michael Bartlett (Pinkerton); Gennaro Papi. The American debut of Novotná, one of the Met’s most beautiful and elegant stars. She was supposed to sing with Toscanini at the World’s Fair in Brooklyn, but the Maestro canceled all his appearances, leaving Novotná stuck in America without engagements. She signed a contract with the Met and went back to Czechoslovakia only to return to America when the Nazi occupation of Prague threatened her family. Merola managed to swoop in and engage her a month before her historic Met career launched. Like Sayao, Novotná stepped in to take performances originally scheduled for Mafalda Favero."