I won tickets to the opera! On Monday, Speak Your Design hosted a last minute contest for two tickets to Tuesday's performance of Puccini's Madama Butterfly. I was the first to correctly answer the question: "At what theater did Madama Butterfly originally premiere in 1904? Hint: it was beautifully renovated by Botta in 2004."
ANSWER: La Scala (working at an architecture firm has its perks). 

I'd only attended the opera on one other occasion, while studying abroad in opera's birthplace: Kosciusko, Mississippi... oops that's Oprah's birthplace... I meant ITALY. My class took a field trip to Pisa to see Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) at the Teatro Verdi. It was just what you'd expect for an opera: traditional, classic, period piece.

__It was nothing like Jun Kaneko's version of opera. Kaneko is a Japanese ceramic artist who, in 2006, reinterpreted the set and costume design for Madama Butterfly. His artistry had me visually enthralled the entire performance. Each scene was blocked like a work of art. So much attention was paid to each character placed, each color used, each prop delivered, each transition choreographed, each costume adorned.

I know the opera is typically lauded for its performers... and Yunah Lee as Cio-Cio San (aka Madama Butterfly) did not disappoint... but I left the theater with a new favorite art form. Set design. (photos via junkaneko.com)

^ Spoiler Alert!