Madama Butterfly - Student ReviewsSounds of Learning
Puccini's Madama Butterfly
Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at 2:00 p.m.
Students in the Opera Company of Philadelphia's Sounds of Learning program saw the final dress rehearsal of Puccini's tragic Madama Butterfly, on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at the Academy of Music.
Madama Butterfly teaches great lessons about love, faith, honor, and respect. Jun Kaneko's production vividly brought the opera to life it's geometric patterns and string use of color and projections.
Now that you've studied the opera and seen it, what were your impressions? Tell us what you think and post your reviews here! Did you like the opera and why? Which was your favorite character and why? Did you like the projections, costumes and sets? Your review should be at least 50 words or more.
Please include your first name, school and grade in your post.
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Comments
My favorite character would have to be Pinkerton because he made the show seem so realistic. He brought excitement to the theater and that is my favorite about plays, movies or any other way of making entertainment but Madam Butterfly was the one who touched my soul. Her voice was like 12 hummingbirds and the sound of the waves on the ocean floor put together.
Thank you for the great performance.
Naseam, 6th grade, AMY NW
Skye, 6th grade, AMY NW
Danielle, Gr. 8. Wilson MS
My favorite character in this opera is Butterfly because her costume was very eye-catching and her acting was very good.
In the opera the projections were colorful and pleasant, but some of the costumes and sets I really didn't like. The sets were too simple and the costumes seemed very alike.
Charles, Gr. 8, Wilson MS
I did like the play because it had it all. It had drama, action, suspense, a bit of comedy, and love. The actors in the opera did very good with their characters. Pinkerton was very loud and kind of fresh. Madama Butterfly was very dramatic.
My favorite character is Pinkerton, because he is very careless and thinks life is very easy, and only cares for himself. I think he is funny.
Kevin, Gr. 8, Wilson MS
My favorite character was Sharpless because he knew and saw that Butterfly was taking it seriously and warned Pinkerton.
My least favorite character was Butterfly because she was stupid enough to change her religion for someone who doesn't love her and she killed herself just because of that.
Sandra, Gr. 7, Wilson MS
My favorite character was Sharpless because he was the one who tried to help Pinkerton understand the situation more.
Kevin, Gr. 8, Wilson MS
I liked Sharpless because he was very kind and caring, but at the same time powerful. I liked the costumes, projections and sets because they made me actually feel like I was in Japan.
Jill, Gr. 8, Wilson MS
My favorite character hands down would have to be Madame Butterfly, all because she was the character that sent the strongest message to me. She brought a mixture of differnet moods that brought the secene to life, such as; life(as a geisha), love(when she first fell in love with Pinkerton), pain(after Pinkerton left and Suzuki was determined that he wasn't to return), and death(after she gave her child to Mary to raise with his father). My favorite scene was in the beginning of the play... Where the props were colorful, the orchestra sounded lovely, the costumes showed their emotions, and the lighting was bright! All together, the set was on point.
The plot of the opera, was to me like an emotional rollercoster. Each acter/actress all had an important role to perform. Sharpless and Puccini, to me, stole my attention for a minute. I mean that they played their part like no other. But at the end, where Madame showed her true feelings in her singing, made me start getting a little teary-eyed. It was lovely.
Overall, this opera said it all in a way i never thought it could be told. Suspense, drama, bits n' pieces of comedy, spook to me...
Thank you for giving me the oppurtunity to see this Amazing performance.
Jaila, 7th grade, Oec
Karen S.
Grade 6
A.M.Y. at James Martin School
I never thought I would meet someone who I studied about.
I loved the spirals in the set.
Michael F.
Grade 8
A.M.Y. at James Martin School
Wilfredo C.
Grade 6
A.M.Y. at James Martin School
Kurt V.
Grade 7
A.M.Y. at James Martin School
The Academy of Music is very big and I like the statues that were above the stage.
Marisa P.
A.M.Y. at James Martin School
Grade 8
Kurt V.
Grade 7
A.M.Y. at James Martin School
Sarah, 7th grade, NW Homeschoolers
Julian, 7Gr, St Mary
Isabel, 7Gr, St. Mary
Orest, 7Gr, St. Mary
Ricky, 7Gr, St. Mary
Dalia, 7Gr, St. Mary
Rachel, 7Gr, St. Mary
Nicholas, 7Gr, St. Mary
Josephine, 7Gr, St. Mary
Armen, 7Gr, St. Mary
Jianna, 7Gr, St. Mary
Martin, 7Gr, St. Mary
Melissa, 7Gr, St. Mary
Alejandro, 8Gr, St. Mary
Kyle, 8Gr, St. Mary
Francesco, 8Gr, St. Mary
Brandon, 8Gr, St. Mary
Jawan, 8Gr, St. Mary
Caitlin, 8Gr, St. Mary
Ana, 8Gr, St. Mary
Harry, 8Gr, St. Mary
Michael, 8Gr, St. Mary
Aliya, 6Gr, St. Mary
Tamia, 6Gr, St. Mary
Haely, 6Gr, St. Mary
Brianne, 6Gr, St. Mary
Kayla, 6Gr, St. Mary
Daniel, 6Gr, St. Mary
Grace, 6Gr, St. Mary
Crosby, 6Gr, St. Mary
Christopher, 6Gr, St. Mary
Mi'Asia, 6Gr, St. Mary
Natalie, 6Gr, St. Mary
Even though each and every one of the characters were phenomenal, my favorite character of all was Madama Butterfly. I say this because she was the one who influenced me the most. For example, when she was happy she acted with a passion that made everyone else feel happy too.Also when she was in pain she was so powerful that I felt like I was in pain too. Lastly she did an awesome job preforming her parts because she mad e us understand her emotion instead of her words.
In this play their are so many great parts. But the two that stood out to me the most was when Madama Butterfly first found out about Kate (Pinkerton's new wife) and when she killed herself. I like the part when she first found out about Kate because when she came out of her room she was happy then as soon as she saw Kate she figured out what was happening and her emotion changed rapidly from happy to devastated. As soon as that happened I felt like someone just stabbed me in the heart because I really felt her pain. Also we she killed herself I understood why and I felt like I wanted to kill myself too for a moment because it hurt me to see what she was going through. That's why overall those were my favorite parts of the play.
The performance overall was fabulous! I loved the characters, the scenery, music, and even the way it was preformed. All the character did such a great job and I wish I could see it again.
Thank you for allowing me to see your great performance!
Jericca, 7th grade, OEC
The character of Butterfly, however, came across to me as pathetic. She clings to her delusional little world and refuses to believe that Pinkerton does not love her; in fact, three years after he abandons her, she is still obsessed with him!
I cheered when she died.
Sharpless was the only character who knew what he was doing in the whole opera. I felt so bad for him - he really meant well, but he was unfortunately dragged into a situation he didn't want to be in and taken advantage of by Pinkerton.
The story was so fascinating. It shows you the mess that will occur when you pretend to love and with the amazing visuals, you could easily tell that the setting was in Japan.
I really love it.
The Best part I like in the story was Madam butterfly coming up with the someone hollding the buterfly back with girls hollding umbrella.
My Favorite character was Cio-Cio San Because he made seem so realistic to me.Heehheheee
THank You for the Beautiful Performance.
I really really love it.
Marie Vhalerie,5th Grade P.A.
Philadelphia.
Tiana, 10th grade, Washington HS
Deja,Lingelbach, 7th grade
Tajona, 7th grade, Lingelbach
Kayla, Lingelbach 7th grade
My first time at the opera was a wonderful experience because. I think all the cast members did a fantastic job playing their roles. My favorite character was Suzuki because she was being a good friend to Butterfly when Pinkerton didn’t come back after three years. I also liked the costumes because they were pretty and colorful, but I felt like there could have been more props on the stage for example, Butterfly’s bedroom and living room could have been on the stage. But other than that, I think it was a fantastic opera and I will like to come back and see another opera.
Britaney,Lingelbach,7th grade
My first experience at an opera was fantastic. What I loved about the opera was the view even though I was in the balcony. I could still see all the characters. Something I disliked about the marvelous opera was it was too cold in the Academy. Also, people from different schools were disrespectful to the opera by chewing gum, talking, and sleeping. The performances were too good to be doing those rude things. My favorite character was Madama Butterfly because every time she sang or said something she always had great expression in her voice. I disliked some of the sets because I couldn’t see enough detail.
This was my first time going to an opera , so I was just getting used to reading captions and hearing Italian. I liked the fact that the opera kept me awake. It never bored me. All the colors and singing were exciting. Also I loved when Butterfly and Pinkerton got married,there were so many colors and actors. My favorite character was S,usuki , even though she didn't sing a lot, I loved her voice. We did learn about geishas in class so I knew who was a geisha. I didn't like when three screens came down and just showed color for about 5-10 min. I would love to return to an opera soon.
DeShaye,7th grade Lingelbach
My favorite character was Pinkerton. I like the way he dressed. The the thing I didn't like was when they were changing scenes because it took a very long time, but other than that I liked it. When I saw the costumes I thought they were very pretty. Each costume fit each scene. And that's what I thought about Madama Butterfly.
Keith,Lingelbach 7th grade
I say the opera was magnificent.
The beginning started off great. The acting was beautiful, the singing was nice, too. But the ending was not so good. It was about how Butterfly tried to kill herself. It did not look real. But everything else was nice.
I liked the opera; it had everything I expected. The lines in the book were the same in the opera. I know that the setting was a long time ago. But the costumes should not have been so colorful but it was nice. I do not have a favorite character. They were all beautiful.
Nneka Grade, 7th, Lingelbach
William,Lingelbach,7th
Tejon,Lingelbach,7grade
What I liked about the opera was when they had a ceremony for Pinkerton and Madama Butterfly and her uncle Bonze came in and disrupted the ceremony; he started yelling at his neice Madama Butterfly. Pinkerton told Bonze to leave.My favorite character was Madama Butterfly because during the opera she was showing a lot of emotion and that's why Madama Butterfly is my favorite character.
Ahanri, Linglebach, 7th Grade
I went to see the opera Madama Butterfly , it was so cool. It was my first time at an opera. The opera was attention catching and loud. I think you planned it perfectly. It had so much action that kept my attention the whole time. I think you need to do nothing to make the opera better. I hope you can do as great on the real opera. The opera had a great group effort.
Nasim, Lingelbach Elementary, 7th gr
Loved the opera !
Breea , 7TH GRADE, Lingelbach
Today my class went on a fieldtrip, and it was fun.My class had been reading about the opera , and I was so excited to go. What I Iiked about the show is when Madama Butterfly was hugging her son. I thought that was really sweet . What I disliked about the show was the ending,when Madama Butterfly killed herself over her husband because he took her son. I also disliked when Madama Butterfly was about to slap Pinkerton. I really enjoyed the show,and I hope to see another opera soon.