When Butterfly Meets VR:Does Opera's Future Lie in Reinvention or Preservation?
By Elizabeth Jia As the curtain rises on Lyric Opera of Chicago's "Madama Butterfly," the audience is met not with a traditional Japanese house but with a sleek, modern apartment. Pinkerton lounges in a T-shirt and casual pants, a VR headset resting on his head—just as Puccini's immortal melody begins to play. It's a provocative opening, and it poses an unavoidable question: Should classic opera move with the times, or remain faithful to tradition? Purists may bristle at such
