National talent and lavish looks highlight Opéra Louisiane’s upcoming one-night-only

Kimonos in intricate patterns hang ready at the LSU School of Music Costume Shop as Opéra Louisiane prepares for its April 11 production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at the River Center Theatre for the Performing Arts.

High-level national talent will perform the tragic opera about a young Japanese woman who falls in love with an American naval officer around the turn of the 20^th Century. Madama Butterfly’s heart-wrenching story, haunting melodies and dramatic conclusion make it a timeless classic—no matter what Timothée Chalamet had to say recently about the art form.

Opéra Louisiane general director Paul Groves says he deliberately chose a well-known work and kept ticket prices reasonable to encourage folks to enjoy a night at the opera.

“There’s nothing like the sound of an unamplified operatic voice to give you goosebumps,” says Groves, an internationally acclaimed tenor, Grammy Award winner and LSU alum who has led the organization since 2024.

Opéra Louisiane recruited top-notch talent for the show. Soprano Teresa Perrotta, playing the lead role, Cio-Cio-San, made her Metropolitan Opera debut last season in Mozart’s The Magic Flute and was the 2023 Grand Finals winner of the Met’s Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition. Other cast members include tenor Joshua Dennis as Pinkerton, mezzo-soprano Hilary Ginther as Suzuki and baritone Dennis Jesse as Sharpless. LSU voice students Yi Mo Le, a doctoral candidate and junior Jennifer Zuckerman and other LSU voice students will be part of the chorus.

Artistic Director Michael Borowitz will conduct musicians from the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra and the New Orleans-based Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. The show is a chance to see up-and-coming artists in the international opera world, Groves adds.

“The singers are fantastic,” he says. “They sing at the Met now. They’re younger singers who are destined to have amazing careers. Perrotta is going to be the next Renée Fleming.”

Groves says the performance represents Opéra Louisiane’s return to the 1,800-seat River Center Theatre for its final show of the season. Last spring, the company sold out two performances of Pagliacci at the 325-seat Manship Theatre and is hoping to grow ticket sales with its move to the larger venue for the spring finale. It will use both venues during its 2026-27 season.

Audience members can expect a traditional version of the tear-jerker, complete with ornate costumes and lavish sets, like a Japanese flower garden that defines the first scene. Supertitles above the stage translate the Italian lyrics into English.

The sets are on loan from the New Orleans Opera Association. The show’s 40 costumes were gifted to Opéra Louisiane and have been worn by performers in the Paris Opera and, more recently, in the Castleton Festival in Castleton, Virginia. Groves drove round trip to Virginia in March to bring them to their new home in the LSU School of Music Costume Shop, which works closely with Opéra Louisiane.

“It was very significant to get these costumes,” Groves says. “It’s tens of thousands of dollars.”

Groves is a Lake Charles native who studied voice at LSU under Kirkpatrick Professor Emeritus of Music Robert Grayson, the architect behind the LSU School of Music’s success in opera education. Grayson has trained several top performers, including soprano Lisette Oropesa, tenor Chad Shelton, tenor Matt Morgan, soprano Kimla Beasley and others.

Grayson’s first big success story, Groves played lead roles for several seasons at the Metropolitan Opera and performed regularly on numerous international stages, including the Paris Opera and the Vienna Opera House. He says one of his proudest moments was being the first non-Italian to perform a new production of the aria L’elisir d’amore at La Scala, the iconic Milan opera house.

Grayson founded Opéra Louisiane in 2007. Today, he and Groves maintain a studio at LSU where they work with top students.

To the opera-hesitant, Groves promises an evening of universal themes that audiences will find familiar regardless of the language barrier.

“Opera is usually something dramatic, so whatever they’re acting and singing on stage will be pretty straightforward,” he says. “Even if you don’t speak Italian or look at the supertitles, you will understand what’s going on.”

For tickets and additional information, visit Opéra Louisiane.