David Belasco and John Luther Long collaborated on this one-act tragedy that opened on 5 March 1900 at the Herald Square Theatre for 24 performances. Conceived as an afterpiece for Belasco's farce, Naughty Anthony, Madame Butterfly proved more popular. Although critics carped about this slight character study, Madame Butterfly attained theatrical permanence via Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera version, as well as the London and Broadway musical, Miss Saigon (1990) and David Henry Hwang's* play, M. Butterfly* (1989). In the Belasco-Long play, geisha Cho-Cho-San falls in love with Pinkerton, an American naval officer, who promises to remain true to her when he sails away with his fleet. Cho-Cho-San later learns from the American consul that Pinkerton has married another woman. When the story is confirmed, she commits suicide. Mary Pickford starred in a 1915 silent motion picture version.
The Historical Dictionary of the American Theater. James Fisher.