Musical theatre responsible for "Les Misérables", which became the longest-running international musical hit in history. The team, in collaboration with Richard Maltby Jr., continued to produce hits, including "Miss Saigon", inspired by the Puccini opera "Madama Butterfly". The British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber saw similar success with "Evita", based on the life of Argentina's Eva Perón; "Cats", derived from the poems of T. S. Eliot (both of which musicals originally starred Elaine Paige); "Starlight Express", performed on roller skates; "The Phantom of the Opera", derived from the Gaston Leroux novel, "Le Fantôme de l'Opéra"; and "Sunset Boulevard" (from the classic film of
Madame Butterfly (short story) Henry Hwang wrote a play entitled "M. Butterfly" which is a commentary on the racist stereotypes in the Puccini opera. Despite the tragic tone of the play, Hwang obviously satirizes Western ignorance about Asia and the fantasy of the passive Asian woman. David Cronenberg adapted the play into a film in 1993. The production of the play caught the attention of Giacomo Puccini, who would compose the Orientalist opera "Madama Butterfly" to a libretto based on Belasco's play and Long's short story. The original version of the opera, in two acts, had its premiere 17 February 1904 at La Scala