Amid the familiar sounds of Puccini, we are taken from the nightlife of San Francisco's Chinatown to the fallout from Pearl Harbor, as told through voices and perspectives of Asian Americans during a critical time in American culture and history. The Chinese American nightclub scene peaked during World War II when Asian Americans of all backgrounds were commanding nightclub stages while defying racial and cultural barriers. Many performers presented publicly as Chinese American due to growing anti-Japanese sentiment in the United States. In this new production, Butterfly works as a singer in a nightclub while contributing to the war [...]

Our new Madama Butterfly is directed by choreographer, dancer, author, and co-founder of Final Bow for Yellowface Phil Chan. This new production moves the story to 1940s San Francisco on the eve of Pearl Harbor. When Butterfly, a nightclub performer contributing to the war effort, meets Pinkerton, a young soldier, an unstoppable series of events is set in motion. Through the eyes of Butterfly, audiences will follow her journey from San Francisco to a Japanese incarceration camp, a journey many Japanese Americans lived during a critical moment in U.S. history. Today's deeper dive focuses on Japanese incarceration during WWII. [...]