- [Will] Coming up on One Detroit.

We'll take you behind the scenes of Detroit opera's re-envisioned production of "Madam Butterfly," plus members of the local Asian American and Pacific Islander community, talk about this new spin on "Madam Butterfly," and how it addresses past cultural concerns.

Also ahead, the team behind the popular TED Talks, produces a documentary on climate change.

Plus, we'll have a list of events and activities you can enjoy this weekend.

And we'll end with a very special performance from the season premiere of "Detroit Performs: Live From Marygrove."

It's all coming up next on One Detroit.

- [Male Announcer] From Delta Faucet to Behr Paint, Masco Corporation is proud to deliver products that enhance the way consumers all over the world experience and enjoy their living spaces.

Masco, serving Michigan communities since 1929.

Support for this program is provided by the Cynthia & Edsel Ford Fund for Journalism at Detroit Public TV.

- [Female Announcer] The DTE Foundation is a proud sponsor of Detroit Public TV.

Among the state's largest foundations committed to Michigan focused giving.

We support organizations that are doing exceptional work in our state.

Visit dtefoundation.com to learn more.

- [Male Announcer] Nissan Foundation, and viewers like you.

(bright upbeat music) - [Will] Just ahead on this week's One Detroit, members of the local AAPI community, talk about the importance of cultural representation in the opera, "Madame Butterfly."

Plus, we'll preview an upcoming TED Talk's documentary on climate change.

Also coming up, Peter Whorf of 90.9 WRCJ, has some ideas on how you can spend this weekend.

And we'll celebrate the vocal talents of a young man who discovered his gift with the help of a nonprofit that supports people with special needs.

But first up, Detroit Opera's opening its new season this weekend, with a re-envisioned production of "Madame Butterfly."

Traditionally, this opera has been seen through the creative lens of white male writers and composers with no direct connection to Japan, and who have been criticized for their depictions of Japanese women and culture.

However, Detroit Opera's new rendition, has an all-Japanese and Japanese American creative team in charge of the storyline.

One Detroit contributor, Sarah Zientarski, has the story.

(bright upbeat music) (gentle soprano music) - One of my favorite things about opera is the fact that it has so much history that it is so musically-centered.

And music is something that is such a universal language, and I really think it is something that really connects humanity.

To be able to tell a story like "Madam Butterfly," and put it in a container that makes us think about how we consume the stories that we tell, it's magical.

There's nothing like it.

(gentle soprano music) - I think the reason this masterpiece is very important, not only to the Asian community but to all humanity, because it is a story about love and sacrifice.

(gentle soprano music) - "Madame Butterfly," it's essentially a naval officer, visits Nagasaki, Japan, in the turn of the century, and marries and buys a Geisha woman, impregnate her, leaves her.

Three years later, we find out she's pregnant.

He comes back, takes the child, and she decides to kill herself at the end.

- I think, I see this story as a warning to make sure people understand that every human is a human.

Make sure you're realizing every action you make and decide has consequences.

- To me, it is timeless in the way that white man visits nation land and wreaks havoc on young women.

I think that that is a pretty universal tale throughout our world history, and the way that the directing and design team has interpreted this production, really leans into the fact that this is a story told from the lens of white men.

The original play, the original source material, the opera itself, the libretto and the music, comes from a very particular single lens on a culture and a nation in which they did not set foot.

And now, we know a little bit more about how we interpret and want to share other cultures.

And so, this production really dives into what was the historical context, and now what is our context currently in 2023 that we can really tell the story in a more authentic way.

(gentle soprano music) - There are many unique and fresh aspects of this production.

For example, I would say, the director's interpretation that brings the game world in this story.

- This production, instead of being a soldier in 1900 showing up to Japan and staking his claim, he is a modern guy looking for the release from the real world.

And in so, being in this virtual reality game, he's creating this life.

And so, the consequences, to him, seem not like a big deal because "Ah, it's a video game.

These are video game characters."

And as the story progresses, you see he's seeing more of the humanity, and he's starting to find a little bit of that regret.

- "Madame Butterfly" is an example of Orientalism in which the viewpoint of the Asian woman is one in which is seen as submissive servile, any of the myriad of stereotypes for Asian women is really highlighted actually in the way that the story is written for that character.

And the way that this production deals with that in a container that feels resonant and representative of the people telling the story, so an entirely Japanese-American directing design team.

To have this story told from their perspective, it took years actually of collaboration, of conversation, of interrogation, of why should we even do this piece?

Do we feel represented in this piece?

And if not, how would we tell the story in a way that makes us feel represented?

And that is the result.

This production is the result of those conversations.

(gentle soprano music) - We're finally considering groups like the AAPI that deserve their stories to be told without the filter of I can tell you your story better than you can.

And this has been a great production to be part of because of an all-Japanese or Japanese American creative team that are allowing their viewpoints or viewpoints of their families.

- Something that was really significant for the directing design team was the representation and the authenticity of giving urgency to butterfly, giving urgency to the female Asian perspective in this opera.

- This story is based on the love and sacrifice, and I think, the production want to show and talk about the freedom also.

So it could be a kind of a warning of AI, artificial intelligence.

So the audience can enjoy these concepts, absolutely, the music, and modern Japanese culture.

- It's really important to have the Japanese historical fashion be correct, so that we're taking it out of this lens of a white man who has never seen it, just kind of making it beautiful in his mind, and putting it into real world.

The "Madame Butterfly" costume designer is Maiko Matsushima.

And the details that she found and her knowledge of Japanese fashion, and historical Japanese fashion, was really important to this piece.

You get that full Japanese feeling of the beautiful Geishas and all of that spectacularness, but then there's moments, there's accessories, so to speak, colors that are more neon that pulls you into that virtual reality world.

So you get the best of both worlds.

(gentle soprano music) - It has been one of the most significant joys of my career so far.

To be a part of this production, it's just such an honor to tell this story in this way that gives so much urgency that represents truly authentically and in a way that is a risk.

It's truly a risk, but one that creates dialogue and one that really brings it to a modern age.

I absolutely am proud of it, I'm honored by it, and I am so overjoyed to continue telling this story.

- [Will] Detroit Opera's fresh interpretation of "Madame Butterfly," places the narrative of the beloved story in the hands of the artist of Asian descent.

One Detroit senior producer, Bill Kubota, sat down with members of the local Asian American and Pacific Islander community to talk about the historical representations in "Madame Butterfly," and how the Detroit Opera production, addresses these cultural concerns.

(bright upbeat music) - Let's talk more about Opera, "Madame Butterfly," and even more from an AAPI point of view.

We're talking with Dr. Mika Kennedy at Ithaca College, specializing in Asian American studies, and we've been connected with Twitter for a long time here in Southeastern Michigan.

We're with Jasmine Rivera with Rising Voices, advocating for Asian American women in Michigan, also a director of stage and screen.

And we're also with Chien-An Yuan, artist, educator, filmmaker, and contributor to One Detroit.

Thanks for turning on your cameras.

Let's talk about "Madame Butterfly," an opera set in Japan that goes back 120 years or so, but this one playing here in Detroit comes from a Japanese and Japanese-American creative team.

What do you all think of that?

- Well, I think, it's extraordinary.

You know, as an Asian American woman and artist, when you hear "Madame Butterfly" being mentioned, you kind of get a knee-jerk gut reaction to it, which is wholly negative for many reasons.

But when you discover for this particular production that the creative team is Japanese and Japanese-American, and is coming from their sort of interpretation of it, then it's exciting to see what they could do to subvert a piece of artwork that has been so problematic, and has led to many, many issues that have bled into our culture.

So it's very intriguing.

- The classical music world, especially, the opera world in the United States, needs a refresher.

You know, and these kind of innovative stagings, these axle reclamation, especially, for AAPI artists, as Jasmine said, "Madame Butterfly" is notorious amongst works of art depicting Asian representation.

And I just think that the fact that they're rethinking it, that they're reclaiming a lot of the issues that directly in this production, I think, is a brave and necessary thing to do.

And it has been a long time coming.

- Mika, I suspect that you've heard of some of these issues that have come up.

I guess, they've been with us all our lives in one form or another, and that other adaptations that came along more recently.

- I am someone who has actually never seen a traditional version of "Madame Butterfly," so I've only read it in summaries of the acts.

And so my background for it actually comes from David Henry Hwang's "M. Butterfly," which is a stage play that is also kind of doing some of that subversive work a little bit differently, 'cause it's a play, and kind of takes its own storyline in its own kind of historical moment.

But it's interesting to come back to a version that's closer to the original, and still see what kinds of opportunities for conversation that can open when we're still using Puccini's original music.

We're still using the outperform and doing really interesting things with it.

- Regarding this particular program, has this virtual reality element to it then, was that surprising to you or did that seem like this the way a lot of these things are going?

- Yeah, I think, it was actually really interesting because so much of "Madame Butterfly" now is really about, like, the modern reading of it is about fantasy.

You know, that it is the ultimate Western male fantasy of an "Orientalist" fantasy of what a romance with an Asian woman would be like.

Framing it as virtual reality.

They really embrace that idea of it being a fantasy, you know, like a vision as opposed to anything real.

It's like, for anybody who knows this story, you're like, you know, this 15 year old girl, gives her whole life for this guy who kind of sucks, you know, and you realize at the end that she has her own power with within this staging.

And it was genuinely refreshing - These kind of ideals that power "Madame Butterfly," are still very much part of society.

I should probably revise that statement and say that they're part of society, but they also continue to be reinvented.

And so there's new and different versions of them based on what is happening in our culture today.

And so there's a concept that I did not invent called Techno Orientalism, and it is that revision of the original 19th century, early 20th century vision of the Orient as something that's exotic, something that's consumable.

And the Techno Orientalism takes that idea into the sci-fi element, the speculative, the futuristic, similar to this concept of virtual reality.

And so when I look at this production of "Madame Butterfly," it's really kind of taking two things to task.

It's taking the original fantasies that animate Puccini's "Madame Butterfly," and also the fantasies that animate this concept of Techno Orientalism, and this association with Asianness and something that is somehow culturally primitive but also technologically advanced.

And so we see it in things like "Blade Runner," and we see it in things like "Star Wars," or things like "Firefly," where there's this kind of Asiatic sense to what the future will look like.

That often kind of ends up, what's the word, I guess, tumble weeding into these yellow pair fears of an Asian takeover.

And so when we look at virtual reality in this production of "Madame Butterfly," we're also looking at the fantasy of the virtual, the fantasy of that association with kind of an Asian-dressed future that may or may not actually include actual Asian bodies.

- What any other comments or ideas here that we ought to add to this?

- I do wanna talk about the fact that you have this creative team, and the rising presence of Asian Americans across culture and media.

And so you have a work of art that was made by a non-Asian composer and writers, and that was taken on by this team and reinterpreted for today.

And it was done in a way that was very thoughtful, and it required a lot of engagement.

I know from things that I've read in interviews by Matthew Ozawa, the director, this was an uncomfortable process for himself as an Asian American man to engage with this sort of material.

But also he felt the need to do so because it was important, and it was part of his sort of process as an artist to find his own identity in figuring this project out.

And so I think it's very important to emphasize the need for making space for Asian American creators in these historically white art forms.

- Well, I think, to recognize too is that "Madame Butterfly" as a opera work isn't going anywhere because the music is that beautiful and "Un Bel Di" is one of the most famous like soprano aria.

So it's not going anywhere, even though I would love for it to disappear for a while.

But the fact that it's not going anywhere, it's critical that it goes to what Jasmine is saying is that very much like, if it's not going anywhere, let's put it in the hands of Asian American or Asian creators and see what happens, and see how they they engage with it.

Because otherwise, you're still gonna end up with something really antiquated and offensive, deservingly offensive.

- [Will] A new documentary focusing on climate change and the world's efforts to reverse it airs on Detroit Public TV on Monday, October 9th at 10:00 pm.

The specialist titled "Ted Explores: A New Climate Vision," it's produced by the team behind the TED Talks and hosted by Manoush Zomorodi of the TED Radio Hour.

The film examines the rapid, technological revolution underway and the real possibility of a better future for all.

- [Female] There's no doubt that we are facing exponential impacts of climate change.

- If you're not worried or anxious, you're probably not paying attention.

But we should also not be defeatist, we shouldn't say we've done nothing, we are failing.

- We all know there's plenty of bad news when it comes to the climate crisis, but there's also some really good news.

- We are seeing tremendous progress.

- Change can come fast.

- It's happening faster than anyone has expected.

- We call it cautious optimism.

- 15 years ago, solar was the most expensive power.

Now, it is the cheapest form of electricity.

- I am so excited.

- This idea of a resilient neighborhood, all of this grass can manage storm water better.

- We're gonna build a thriving, vibrant, exciting world full of potential.

We can do this, we have to do this.

- [Will] And again, you can see "Ted Explores: A New Climate Vision," here on Detroit Public Television on Monday, October 9th at 10:00 pm.

If you're looking to go out on the town this weekend, there are plenty of events and activities to choose from in Metro Detroit.

Here's Peter Whorf from 90.9 WRCJ, with some suggestions in today's One Detroit Weekend.

- Hi, I am Peter Whorf with 90.9 WRCJ, here to jumpstart you into the weekend with some entertaining events happening in and around Detroit.

Tomorrow, there's a Cinderella performance presented by the World Ballet Series at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts.

Then on Saturday, the Wright Museum is hosting its annual Wright Gala.

This year's theme is "Masks of the Diaspora Masquerade Ball."

get ready to enjoy some food, drinks, and dancing, plus a sneak peek at a special exhibit opening October 10th.

I wonder what that is.

And of course, as seen on today's episode of One Detroit, you can head to the Detroit Opera to see a very special rendition of "Madame Butterfly."

It runs through October 15th, and you can hear it on WRCJ Saturday night October 7th at 7:00 pm.

You could also head over to North Phil's Tipping Point Theater to see "Driving Miss Daisy" performances take place on select days through October 29th.

Also, early next week on October 10th, you can see the very talented "Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals" at the Royal Oak Music Theater.

And there's so much more going on in and around Detroit.

So here are other events to check out.

Have a fantastic weekend.

(bright upbeat music) - [Will] That'll do it for this week's One Detroit.

Thanks for watching.

The new season of "Detroit Performs: Live From Marygrove," premier's next Wednesday October 11th at 7:30 pm.

We'll leave you now with a performance from that show, which is curated by FAR Therapeutic Arts and Recreation, an organization that empowers individuals with special needs.

Here's Leo Palmer singing in my shoes.

♪ I've seen the sun rise and I've seen it fall ♪ ♪ I've been through dark times ♪ And I still see the beauty of it all ♪ ♪ I have the stars and planets all aligned ♪ ♪ Sometimes you win, sometimes you get taken for a ride ♪ ♪ But I won't apologize ♪ No, that would be my demise ♪ I stand here and recognize I've paid my dues ♪ ♪ I'm growing to be more comfortable in my shoes ♪ ♪ Live long enough to have some enemies ♪ ♪ But a jury of my peers would say that they love me ♪ ♪ I don't always seem to have the perfect words ♪ ♪ And if I say the wrong thing that I'm sure to be hurt ♪ ♪ But even monkeys fall from trees ♪ ♪ You can't preach courage from your knees ♪ ♪ I'm standing my ground even if I lose ♪ ♪ I'm growing to be more comfortable in my shoes ♪ ♪ Isn't it a shame how so many think the same ♪ ♪ My luck is down, the river's low ♪ ♪ I can't stay here ♪ There's someplace else I've got to go to find me ♪ ♪ I shifted forward just to far right back ♪ ♪ I learned to see abundance where others only see like ♪ ♪ You play that win or lose when summer slide in ♪ ♪ There are ways to play the game so that everyone's invited ♪ ♪ But I follow what the wisest say ♪ ♪ I can't please them all anyway ♪ ♪ I co-create the destiny I choose ♪ ♪ I'm growing to be more comfortable ♪ ♪ I'm growing to be more comfortable ♪ ♪ I'm growing to be more in my shoes ♪ - [Male Announcer] From Delta Faucet to Behr Paint, Masco Corporation is proud to deliver products that enhance the way consumers all over the world, experience and enjoy their living spaces.

Masco, serving Michigan communities since 1929.

Support for this program is provided by the Cynthia & Edsel Ford Fund for journalism at Detroit Public TV.

- [Female Announcer] The DTE Foundation is a proud sponsor of Detroit Public TV.

Among the state's largest foundations committed to Michigan focused giving, we support organizations that are doing exceptional work in our state.

Visit dtefoundation.com to learn more.

- [Male Announcer] Nissan Foundation, and viewers like you.

(upbeat music)