"Milk-punch o wisky?"

The Inspector cast toasts to "new Italy." Photo by Erik Jacobs.

That's what Lieutenant Pinkerton offers the American consul Sharpless as they await the arrival of Pinkerton's geisha bride, Madama Butterfly. (What IS "milk-punch" anyway? It sounds rather nasty... I'll have to Google it.)  Next season at BLO, it turns out, is full of drinking and eating. There are two on-stage wedding celebrations complete with toasts (and snacks?) - Madama Butterfly and Così Fan Tutte - and an obviously boozy  sailors' homecoming celebration in The Flying Dutchman. One of the central actions and important symbolic gestures of Clemency is the preparation (on stage) and serving of a meal to three strangers (who turn out to be angels - moral obvious). Interestingly, all of these ostensibly happy celebrations turn out in the end to lead to or prefigure dire, even tragic, events. ("That's opera, Doc.")

The New York Times took a closer look at operatic eating and drinking this week, read the full article here.  

 - BLO Artistic Advisor John Conklin