Meet Butterfly and Pinkerton:Soprano Ermonela Jaho and Tenor Roger Honeywell 09-24-2009 Philadelphia audiences swooned in 2006 watching soprano Ermonela Jaho and tenor Roger Honeywell as Mimì and Rodolfo in La bohème. The tragic lovers are reunited in the Opera Company of Philadelphia's upcoming Madama Butterfly. We wanted to get to know them a little better and asked them both a few questions about their characters, this production, and what they like to do when they’re not onstage. Here’s what they had to say… Soprano Ermonela JahoCio-Cio San Where she’s from: Miridite, AlbaniaWhat you’ve seen her in: As Liù in Turandot in 2009 and Mimì in 2006’s La bohème. What draws you to the character of Butterfly and what do you think we should know about her?I am drawn to her sincerity, her passion for true love, her determination to hold what is dear in life, her extraordinary force to let go what she really loves the most in this world. I think the audience should feel that even though she chooses death in the end she loved life even more. What is your most memorable onstage experience, good or bad?Every moment on stage for me is a magic one. But, in Philadelphia particularly, those moments happen around the stage as well as on the stage. I still have a big card that the children’s chorus gave me while singing La bohème a couple of years back. Their innocent remarks are priceless. It always puts a smile in my face. What is your favorite food?I know it will sound staged but Japanese cuisine is on the top of my list. What do you like to do for fun when you’re not onstage?Actually staying home is one of my favorite fun activities. I guess being on the road most of the time makes me miss home that much. Tenor Roger HoneywellLieutenant Pinkerton Where he’s from: Stratford, OntarioWhat you’ve seen him in: As Rodolfo in La bohème and theAutioneer & Judge in Margaret Garner in 2006. You sang the role of Pinkerton in the premiere of this Jun Kaneko production with Opera Omaha in 2006. What are your thoughts coming back to it now?It was such a wonderful experience to do the first performance of this production back in Omaha in '06. It was my first Pinkerton and what a creative production to be a part of. I've been so looking forward to revisiting this piece and sharing it with the audience of Philadelphia, more so now that Jun's work is known in Philadelphia after his production of Fidelio last year. His Madama Butterfly is so visually stunning and the use of color is spectacular. He creates a wonderful visual atmosphere which supports the music and the story so fully and is so quintessentially Japanese. I know the audience will be bowled over by the beauty of this piece. What is your most memorable onstage experience, good or bad?As an actor in Canada before I made the move to opera, I was doing a production of Henry V. This production was updated and set in WWI so there were lots of guns. I was playing a character that was meant to be shot by the French after a very poignant scene and was hooked up with these little devices called squibs which are triggered off stage to explode with blood to simulate being shot. Well one night the show was going along as usual until two scenes before my big death scene, the squibs went off early and my chest exploded into a mess of blood and guts. The look on the faces of my fellow actors was priceless. Two scenes later, I had to stagger around the stage and try to die as slowly as I could until I was left alone onstage for my speech. I thought it best to just cut the speech, and good thing too because, unknown to me, the stage manager had announced backstage, "If he goes into his speech shoot him again." What is your favorite food?This is an unfair question. I have so many favorite foods and I guess it depends on the season. I live in a small town outside of Toronto in a farming community. Corn on the cob with steak on the BBQ right now is pretty much heaven. I also love French and Italian. What do you like to do for fun when you’re not onstage?I'm a big hockey fan so I'm looking forward to catching some Flyers games while I'm in Philadelphia. I used to sing the National anthems in Chicago for the Blackhawks so I was able to see tons of games. I also like to go to galleries and catch up on my movies. Click here to learn more about Madama Butterfly.
Philadelphia audiences swooned in 2006 watching soprano Ermonela Jaho and tenor Roger Honeywell as Mimì and Rodolfo in La bohème. The tragic lovers are reunited in the Opera Company of Philadelphia's upcoming Madama Butterfly. We wanted to get to know them a little better and asked them both a few questions about their characters, this production, and what they like to do when they’re not onstage.
Here’s what they had to say…
Soprano Ermonela JahoCio-Cio San
Where she’s from: Miridite, AlbaniaWhat you’ve seen her in: As Liù in Turandot in 2009 and Mimì in 2006’s La bohème.
What draws you to the character of Butterfly and what do you think we should know about her?I am drawn to her sincerity, her passion for true love, her determination to hold what is dear in life, her extraordinary force to let go what she really loves the most in this world. I think the audience should feel that even though she chooses death in the end she loved life even more.
What is your most memorable onstage experience, good or bad?Every moment on stage for me is a magic one. But, in Philadelphia particularly, those moments happen around the stage as well as on the stage. I still have a big card that the children’s chorus gave me while singing La bohème a couple of years back. Their innocent remarks are priceless. It always puts a smile in my face.
What is your favorite food?I know it will sound staged but Japanese cuisine is on the top of my list.
What do you like to do for fun when you’re not onstage?Actually staying home is one of my favorite fun activities. I guess being on the road most of the time makes me miss home that much.
Tenor Roger Honeywell
Where he’s from: Stratford, OntarioWhat you’ve seen him in: As Rodolfo in La bohème and theAutioneer & Judge in Margaret Garner in 2006.
You sang the role of Pinkerton in the premiere of this Jun Kaneko production with Opera Omaha in 2006. What are your thoughts coming back to it now?It was such a wonderful experience to do the first performance of this production back in Omaha in '06. It was my first Pinkerton and what a creative production to be a part of. I've been so looking forward to revisiting this piece and sharing it with the audience of Philadelphia, more so now that Jun's work is known in Philadelphia after his production of Fidelio last year. His Madama Butterfly is so visually stunning and the use of color is spectacular. He creates a wonderful visual atmosphere which supports the music and the story so fully and is so quintessentially Japanese. I know the audience will be bowled over by the beauty of this piece.
What is your most memorable onstage experience, good or bad?As an actor in Canada before I made the move to opera, I was doing a production of Henry V. This production was updated and set in WWI so there were lots of guns. I was playing a character that was meant to be shot by the French after a very poignant scene and was hooked up with these little devices called squibs which are triggered off stage to explode with blood to simulate being shot. Well one night the show was going along as usual until two scenes before my big death scene, the squibs went off early and my chest exploded into a mess of blood and guts. The look on the faces of my fellow actors was priceless. Two scenes later, I had to stagger around the stage and try to die as slowly as I could until I was left alone onstage for my speech. I thought it best to just cut the speech, and good thing too because, unknown to me, the stage manager had announced backstage, "If he goes into his speech shoot him again."
What is your favorite food?This is an unfair question. I have so many favorite foods and I guess it depends on the season. I live in a small town outside of Toronto in a farming community. Corn on the cob with steak on the BBQ right now is pretty much heaven. I also love French and Italian.
What do you like to do for fun when you’re not onstage?I'm a big hockey fan so I'm looking forward to catching some Flyers games while I'm in Philadelphia. I used to sing the National anthems in Chicago for the Blackhawks so I was able to see tons of games. I also like to go to galleries and catch up on my movies.
Click here to learn more about Madama Butterfly.
