The geisha parade of chorus near the start of the show is similarly clothed and moving. The set and costumes seem to move, even dance, throughout the show.

In one scene a curtain of giant linguini stripes of color lower into place. Throughout the performance, the huge cyc displays of indigo and peach skies are interrupted by giant screens dropping into place with projections of horizontal lines sometimes black and white, sometimes primary colors. The cast of Madame Butterfly, co-produced by Washington National Opera, at The Kennedy Center The stage is defined by a long curving ramp across the back and a single off-center circular raised platform that together reminded me of a circus ring or a contemporary architectural statement. The moment we walk in we are greeted by the cavernous proscenium of the Kennedy Center Opera House filled with repeated invisible clotheslines of Japanese “happi coats” designed with bold dots, stripes, and blocks of primary colors. Japanese American designer Jun Kaneko shocks us awake with his set and costume design. Those of us who love this opera succumb willingly and weepingly. “Orientalism” carries us back to composer Giacomo Puccini’s time when the West imagined a fanciful Japan with geishas in pastel colors, a watery moon over stirring waters, a pinkish snow of cherry blossoms, and the like. In most productions, Madame Butterfly is unabashedly atmospheric in its romanticism.

Madame butterfly san francisco opera