Madame Butterfly

Houston Ballet brings Madame Butterfly to the Brown Theater at the Wortham Theater Center from March 11 to 21, 2027. It's a full-length production that runs for eleven days, so you've got a good window to catch it whenever it fits your schedule.

The choreography is by Stanton Welch, and the music is Giacomo Puccini's original score, arranged for ballet by John Lanchbery. The story follows a Japanese geisha who gives up her faith and her family to marry an American naval lieutenant—a premise that's as much about the cost of that choice as it is about the romance. It's a neoclassical ballet, which means it keeps the classical foundation but stretches it out, and it's one of the more emotionally heavy works in Welch's catalog.

There's a bit of history behind this one. Madame Butterfly was Welch's first full-length ballet, originally choreographed in 1995 for The Australian Ballet. It's also a returning production; it's coming back to the Wortham stage after more than a decade, so if you saw it the last time it was around, this is a chance to see it again. The sets and costumes are by Peter Farmer.

Welch has a deep history with the company—he became Houston Ballet's Artistic Director in 2003 and has choreographed over 40 works for them since then, this one among them. Madame Butterfly is part of the 2026-2027 season, which also includes Pecos Bill and Manon. The run at the Brown Theater goes from March 11 through March 21, 2027.