A timeless tragedy reimagined: Madama Butterfly opens on Saturday, March 14

 
CHICAGO (3/13/2026) — Lyric Opera of Chicago’s 2025/26 Season continues with the Puccini classic Madama Butterfly, on stage March 14 – April 12, 2026.

One of opera’s most beloved works returns to Lyric in a bold reimagining by director Matthew Ozawa that asks: What if everything we think we know about this opera is only half the story? Ozawa’s production is grand and visually stunning while revealing new and unexplored layers of meaning.

Soprano Karah Son makes her Lyric debut in the tragic title role, joined by tenor Evan LeRoy Johnson in his Lyric debut as the dastardly Pinkerton, mezzo-soprano Nozomi Kato in her Lyric debut as the faithful Suzuki, baritone Zachary Nelson as the compassionate Sharpless, and Lyric favorite Rodell Rosel as the scheming Goro.

Conductor Domingo Hindoyan leads the Lyric Opera Orchestra through Puccini’s immortal score. An all-Japanese, all-female design team — set designer dots, costume designer Maiko Matsushima, and lighting designer Yuki Nakase Link — brings unprecedented perspective to this iconic work.

We hope audiences can join us for this groundbreaking production — where tradition meets innovation, where familiar melodies reveal new truths, and where Butterfly’s story finally gets the lens it deserves.
 
View Madama Butterfly images here
 
A high-resolution video trailer will be available soon on Lyric's YouTube channel and in Lyric's online press room.
 
Read the digital program book of Madama Butterfly before the performance.
 
Performance dates for Madama Butterfly are March 14 at 7:30 p.m.; March 19 at 7:00 p.m.; March 22 and 25 at 2:00 p.m.; March 28 at 7:30 p.m.; March 31 and April 6 at 7:00 p.m.; and April 9 and 12 at 2:00 p.m. All performances take place at the Lyric Opera House, 20 North Wacker Drive, Chicago.

Madama Butterfly is performed in Italian, with easy-to-follow projected English titles above the stage.

A total running time of 2 hours and 55 minutes, including one intermission.
 
Audio description, a guided touch tour of the opera's sets and costumes, and SoundShirts are available at the Sunday, March 22 matinee performance. Braille and large-print programs, high-powered opera glasses, assistive listening devices, and booster seats are available from the theater’s Steiner Parquet coat checks at all performances. For more information on these and other accessibility assets, visit lyricopera.org/accessibility.
 
For information and tickets, call 312.827.5600 or go to lyricopera.org/butterfly.
 

Sponsors

Lyric’s presentation of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly is generously made possible by an Anonymous Donor, Lisbeth Stiffel, Invenergy, ITW, Randy L. & Melvin R.* Berlin, Marion A. Cameron-Gray, and the Gramma Fisher Foundation of Marshalltown, Iowa, with additional support provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Chorus is generously sponsored by an Anonymous Lead Sponsor.

*deceased

Lyric Opera's Season is presented by

Lyric Opera of Chicago thanks its Official Airline, United Airlines, and acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council.

United Airlines
Illinois Arts Council

About Lyric

About Lyric

Lyric Opera of Chicago is committed to redefining what it means to experience great opera. The company is driven to deliver consistently excellent artistry through innovative, relevant, celebratory programming that engages and energizes new and traditional audiences.

Under the leadership of General Director, President & CEO John Mangum and Music Director Enrique Mazzola, Lyric is dedicated to reflecting, and drawing strength from, the diversity of Chicago. Lyric offers, through innovation, collaboration, and evolving learning opportunities, ever-more exciting, accessible, and thought-provoking audience and community experiences. We also stand committed to training the artists of the future, through The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center; and to becoming increasingly diverse across our audiences, staff, programming, and artists—magnifying the welcoming pull of our art form, our company, and our city.

Through the timeless power of voice, the splendor of a great orchestra and chorus, theater, dance, design, and truly magnificent stagecraft, Lyric is devoted to immersing audiences in worlds both familiar and unexpected, creating shared experiences that resonate long after the curtain comes down.

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For more information on Lyric's upcoming 2024/25 Season, visit lyricopera.org/newseason.

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