‘Madama Butterfly’ to be performed April 17 at Majestic Theater

GETTYSBURG, Pa. - Gettysburg College opera singers will tag-team a performance of "Madama Butterfly" April 17 at Majestic Theater.

The 7 p.m. performance will take place in the Majestic Theater located at 25 Carlisle Street. The opera is three hours long with two intermissions and it will be sung in Italian with English supertitles. Dr. Scott Crowne will play the entire musical score on the piano and Dr. Kathleen Sasnett will serve as producer and musical director, both Sunderman Conservatory professors.

The opera centers on a young Japanese geisha Cio-Cio-San or "Butterfly" whose innocence leads her to marry an American naval lieutenant, B. F. Pinkerton. A leading role is too heavy for a young student to perform in their entirety at this stage of his or her vocal development. There will be 10 Butterflys, 4 Suzukis, 2 Sharplesses, 2 Pinkertons, 2 Goros and various other roles, allowing for students to experience an opera.

Gettysburg College is a highly selective four-year residential college of liberal arts and sciences with approximately 2,600 students. It is located on a 200-acre campus adjacent to Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania. The college was founded in 1832.

By: Justin Brower, class of 2010