Autumn's Operas & Musicals

Fall is a great time to enjoy some shows and performances...went to a few interesting ones over the last few weeks...

14 Oct ~ Opera ~ Madam Butterfly @ Four Seasons Centre
31 Oct ~ Musical ~ West Side Story @ Stratford Festival
2 Nov ~ Opera ~ The Nightingale & Other Short Fables @ Four Seasons Centre


Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

Had always passed by this location and longed to be there somedays, finally I made it here to watch some of the world's most famous opera performances. The Canadian Opera Company (COC) has special promotions for audience under 30 where tickets are slashed more than 50%. So we managed to catch performances like Madam Butterfly and The Nightingale at very low prices and with good orchestral seats.

@ Madam Butterfly @
Madam Butterfly is a very touching story. The story line is simple: a girl's love betrayed. In the late 19th century, Lt. Pinkerton of the United States Navy married a Japanese woman by the name of Butterfly, or Cio-Cio-san, who was then a famous young geisha. The arrangement, at least in Pinkerton's eyes, was temporary. Fifteen-year-old Butterfly thought the marriage was real. She renounced her faith, her family and settled into life with Pinkerton, with whom she had a child. Pinkerton later left Butterfly for the United States, promising to return. Three years later, Butterfly still waited for her husband and rejected all other suitors. Pinkerton did return eventually, but with his new American wife. He demanded that Butterfly handed over his child. Butterfly killed herself in despair.

At first I couldn't figure out the language, until I realized that was Italian. So it was kind of weird to hear Japanese characters opera-ing in a different language, while in Japanese kimono and Asian settings. But I guess opera is meant to be in Italian anyway... Very touching *sob sob* - I could feel that people by my side were swiftly wiping off their tears at the ending. This was the first time I had been to an opera and I was very impressed!

@ The Nightingale & Other Short Fables @
This is made up of a collage of fable tales, consisting of The Fox and The Nightingale. The former began with the Cock boasting of his prowess with his hens. The hungry Fox initially deceived the Cock, twice enticing him down from his perch but each time the Cock was rescued by his friends the Ram and the Cat. After the Cock's second rescue, the Cat and the Ram strangled the Fox, and the three friends celebrate in dance and song.

The latter is about the Nightingale's singing that can help anyone forgets their troubles. The Emperor heard about it and invited her to sing at court. At the palace, the Nightingale's sweetest voice touches the ruler deeply. However, when Japanese Envoys arrived with a gift of a mechanical Nightingale, the genuine bird flew away. Angered, the Emperor banished the real Nightingale from his realm and named the mechanical bird First Singer of the Bedside Table on the Left.

The Emperor, ill and near death, was attended by the figure of Death himself. The genuine Nightingale reappeared and in defiance of the imperial edict, began to sing. Death was greatly moved by the bird, and agreed to give back the Emperor his life. The Emperor offered the Nightingale the post of First Singer. The Nightingale said that the Emperor's tears were reward enough, and promised to sing for him each night from dusk to dawn.

There are quite a lot interesting stuffs about this opera. Firstly, it is a combination of different stories, well segregated by the 30 minutes intermission. Secondly, they make use of lights and shadows and some kind of acrobatic dances to showcase and tell the story of The Fox, which is quite a fresh approach to me, different from the tradition opera show. Lastly, The Nightingale is presented through the use of elaborated puppets and props, such as using water in a large pool on the stage to bring about the scene where the Nightingale sings by the river and it is then discovered by the Fisherman who rolls his boat along the river to listen to its songs. It was a very fascinating and refreshing experience, totally out of my expectation of a traditional opera!


The town of Statford is about 2 hours drive from Toronto. Though a small town, it is famous for the annual Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario that showcases many of Shakespeare's plays. It plays the host to the event for so many years because it is so-called Stratford, and that Shakespeare was born in a small town also known as the Statford-upon-Avon in England. So you can see that every shop, every theatre, and even street names are named after some kind of characters from Shakespeare.



@ West Side Story @
West Side Story is one of the highlights from the festival. Though it is not directly related to Shakespeare, it is still an highly-acclaimed musical. This is a contemporary adaptation of the classic Romeo and Juliet. It was about two rival gangs, the Jets and the Sharks, that waged a turf war in the mean streets of New York City. But when Tony, best friend of Jets leader Riff, fell in love with Maria, the sister of the Sharks leader Bernardo, simmering tensions escalated towards a shocking finale.

The music and dances in the performance reminded me so much of those days in secondary school, where our choir and drama clubs did the same musical for the annual year-end finale show in school. In the festival, the artistes for the Tony and Maria characters had put up a very passionate and powerful performance! I was still craving for more music, more dance and more Tony!!! Overall, very touching story, captivating act, fantastic music, thumbs up!