Madama Butterfly a complex, gorgeous tragedy

Examiner.com – by Catey Sullivan, Chicago Theatre Review Examiner

From the doomed transvestite in the four-star film “M. Butterfly” to the famous helicopter in the mega-musical “Miss Saigon”, “Madama Butterfly” has taken on a life Giacomo Puccini probably never imagined. You can catch the East-meets-West tragedy in two places at present, the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Drury Lane, Oak Brook.

It’s at the Lyric that Puccini’s version is running through Jan. 29. And a lavish, complex and wholly immersive experience it is. The immersion begins at first glimpse of Clarke Dunham’s beautiful, and beautifully realistic set…