ANTHONY MINGHELLA DIRECTS MADAM BUTTERFLY AT THE MET

(VIDEO) The stars were at the Metropolitan Opera in New York to congratulate English Patient director Anthony Minghella on his rendition of Madam Butterfly.

For the first time in 20 years a new production has opened at the Metropolitan Opera in New York with Puccini’s Madam Butterfly and the stars were all there to celebrate including the former mayor of New York, Rudolf Giuliani an opera buff since he was 13. Movie star couples such as Jude Law and Sienna Miller with her mom in tow, Liev Schrieber and Naomi Watts, Liv Tyler with her designer date Zac Posen and rocker David Bowie with his model wife Iman were there to congratulate Academy Award winning director Anthony Minghella most famous for The English Patient and The Talented Mr. Ripley for his portrayal of the classic opera.

Minghella’s next film project is Breaking and Entering starring Jude Law, Juliette Binoche and Robin Wright Penn. Two thousand and seven hundred seats were set up in Lincoln Center Plaza for a free simulcast of the performance on a giant outdoor screen as well as 650 seats that closed off traffic for viewing on the Jumbo Tron in Times Square. rn

“The only real challenge is to remind everybody that they can be as detailed on a big stage as you can be with a camera. Actually people see everything on stage. It’s not true that you have to be grand and big. Actually you can use the same technique, the same detail and focus that you have in film. In a way it’s bringing our discipline into this wonderful art form. On the other hand for a singer it’s the equivalent of running a marathon to sing unaided on this big stage and so sometimes when I’m saying listen, concentrate think when they’ve actually been running for 26 miles has maybe been harder than those of us who don’t sing understand.”