David Belasco

David Belasco was the American playwright and producer whose plays gave Puccini Madama Butterfly and La fanciulla del West. He learned the theatre in San Francisco and Virginia City as call boy, actor and stage manager. Between 1884 and 1930 he wrote, directed or produced more than a hundred Broadway plays, known for their elaborate decor and lighting. In London in 1900 it was the silent night's vigil of his Madame Butterfly, lit from dusk to dawn, that drew Puccini to the play, and Belasco staged the premiere of La fanciulla del West at the Metropolitan Opera in 1910.