HOT set to present tragic love, dead ahead

Hawaii Opera Theatre will present an expanded season for the 2014-15 season, featuring an additional production, a new venue and an extended schedule.

The season will have four operas, instead of the usual three, with Puccini’s popular "Madam Butterfly" taking the stage in October. That will be followed by three productions from February to April: Wagner’s "The Flying Dutchman," Jonathan Dove’s "Siren Song" and Stephen Sondheim’s "Sweeney Todd."

"Madam Butterfly," Puccini’s iconic work, opens the season Oct. 10, 12 and 14 at Blaisdell Concert Hall. The production will feature Georgian-American soprano Lina Tetriani making her HOT debut as the tragic Cio-Cio-San, who sacrifices everything for her lover, American naval officer Pinkerton, played by Eric Margiore. HOT artistic director Henry Akina will bring it here after first having staged the production at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland.

The season resumes in 2015 with Richard Wagner’s "The Flying Dutchman." This chilling tale follows the story of a ghost ship and its ill-fated captain, who is cursed to search the seas for true love. The production features two rising stars in the Wagnerian repertoire: Ryan McKinney, winner of a Wagner song competition sponsored by Placido Domingo at the famous Teatro alla Scala in Italy, who will be making his HOT debut; and Jay Hunter Morris, whose performance in "Siegfried" with the Met earned the production a Grammy. Morris made a stunning debut with HOT in October as Calaf in "Turandot." With Melody Moore as Senta, the HOT cast reprises the highly praised Glimmerglass Festival’s 2013 version of "The Flying Dutchman." It runs Feb. 13, 15 and 17 at Blaisdell.

The modern opera "Siren Song" will be staged in a warehouse in Kaka­ako, representing HOT’s outreach to contemporary audiences. The approximately hourlong "chamber opera" tells a story of a young sailor falling in love with a woman he’s never met and who turns out to not be what he thought she was. That might seem reminiscent of the Manti Te’o saga, but "Siren Song" was composed in 1994 and is based on another true story. "Siren Song" runs March 20, 21, 27 and 28.

Former HOT executive director Karen Tiller returns to direct "Sweeney Todd" for the final work of the 2014-15 season. Sondheim’s revenge-filled drama will have Peter Kendall Clark making his HOT debut in the title role as a murderous barber. It should be a good fit. He was praised for "a deliberately semi-creepy stage presence" in a "Mad Men" setting of "Cosi fan tutte." Hawaii favorite and former local resident Jamie Offenbach returns as Judge Terpin. "Sweeney Todd" will be staged April 24, 26 and 28 at the Blaisdell.

Subscriptions, which start at $120 until April 30, are available at the HOT Box Office at the Hawaii Opera Plaza, 848 S. Bere­ta­nia St., or by calling 596-7858.