What Happens After the Great Operas?

Illustrations for "Liberating the Librettos" by Anthony Tommasini, for the 11/10 NY Times. Bonus fact: Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" helped inspire Weezer's "Pinkerton," my go-to warm-up album for high school track meets. 

After the Curtain Falls

This drawing appears in the Sunday, November 10 NY Times Arts & Leisure section alongside this article by Anthony Tomassini. Tomassini explores the unanswerable question of all opera (and for that matter, all fiction): what happens to the characters after the story ends?

I had a great time studying some classic operas and speculating about the future of the living (and non-living) characters. I also watched this video for inspiration. Thanks to AD Paul Jean for the gig!