Seeing Red
Tony Award-winning team to stage Houston Grand Opera production of MadameButterfly
- Tony Award-winning director Michael Grandage
- A scene from "Red"
The team that swept the Tony awards is tackling one of opera's greatest warhorses — Madame Butterfly — in a new Houston Grand Opera production.
Director Michael Grandage, designer Christopher Oram and lighting designer Neil Austin all won Broadway's highest honor Sunday night for their critically acclaimed production of Red. The story of Mark Rothko and his assistant during the two-year period when Rothko painted a series of murals for the Four Seasons restaurant won six Tonys, including best play, and garnered more awards than any production.
Reds originated at the Donmar Warehouse in London, where Grandage is artistic director. “As a production team we have worked almost exclusively in the theater,” Grandage said in a statement. “I’m excited to work with Houston Grand Opera on such an important and beautiful piece of the operatic repertory.”
It is the team's first opera for a U.S. company. The trio will stage the production to kick off HGO's new season Oct. 22. It will feature soprano Ana Maria Martínez in her role debut as Cio-Cio San and the HGO debuts of tenor Joseph Calleja (Pinkerton), baritone Levi Hernandez (Sharpless) and mezzo-soprano Lucy Schaufer (Suzuki).
Rehearsals begin in Houston in late September.