Johann Strauss, Jr.'s
Die Fledermaus

Feb. 24, 25, Mar. 2 & 3, 2012 at 8pm
Feb. 26 & Mar. 4, 2012 at 2pm

Directed by Catherine Huntress-Reeve
Music Directed by Joseph Sorge

Cast

Gabriel von Eisenstein - G. Stephen Stokes
Rosalinda, Eisenstein’s wife - Melissa Chavez (2/23, 2/24, 2/26, 3/3)                                                 Patricia Portillo (2/26, 3/2, 3/4)
Adele, Rosalinda's maid - Alexandra Boulé-Buckley (2/26, 3/2, 3/4)
                                      Courtney Kalbacker (2/23, 2/24, 2/26, 3/3)
Sally, Adele's sister - Alexandra August
Alfred, an opera singer - David Merrill
Dr. Falke, a notary - Rameen Chaharbaghi
Dr. Blind, a lawyer - Timothy Ziese
Frank, a prison governor - Bennet Umhau
Prince Orlovsky - Carla Rountree (2/23, 2/24, 2/26, 3/3, 3/4)
                         Emma Jensen (2/26, 3/2)
Ivan, the prince's valet - Carlton Maryott

Ensemble: Felicity Ann Brown, Blair Eig, Mary Ellen Hood, Rand Huntzinger, Ralph Johnson, Casey Keeler, Stu Knazik, Erik Kreil, Kellie McHugh, Debbie Peetz, Barbara Semiatin, Brittany Stranathan, Rusty Suter, Genevieve Tokarski, Maria Wilson

Orchestra

Violin 1 - Steve Natrella (CM), Bonnie Barrows, David Friedlander, Peter Mignerey
Violin 2 -Martin Brown, Carolyn Larson, Edwin Schneider, Grace Brigham
Viola - Amanda Laudwein
Cello - Michael Stein, Tom Zebovitz
Bass - Pete Gallanis, Alice Mignerey
Flute - Jackie Miller, Louise Hill
Oboe - Gwen Earle, Ava Oaxaca
Clarinet - Laura Langbein, Laura Bornhoeft, James Bensinger
Bassoon -  Steve Rennings, Steve Wechsler
Horn - Joe Cross, Lora Katz
Trumpet - Curt Anstine, Tom Gleason
Trombone - Steve Ward, Frank Eliot, Al Potter
Percussion - George Huttlin, Glenn Scimonelli
Harp - Meredith Mancini

Production Staff

Producer - Denise Young
Stage Manager - T. Tamura Gardner
Set Designer - Anna Britton
Set Dressing - Anna Britton, Lois Britton
Costume Designer - Denise Young
Lighting Designer - Joe Palamara
Makeup/Hair Design - Renee Silverstone
Makeup Assistants -Jennifer Rutherford, Alice Drew
Master Carpenter - William Kolodrubetz
Senior Carpenters - Peter Finkel, David Kaysen
Set Construction - Peter Krueger, Les Elkins, Rebecca Meyerson,Tony Dwyer, Devin Work
Scenic Artist - Rebecca Meushaw
Set Painting - Lois Britton, Bob Dennis, Peggy Dennis, Rand Huntzinger, Doug Maryott
Upholstery - Lois Britton
Audition Pianist - Jenny Craley Bland
Rehearsal Pianists - Jenny Craley Bland, Addie Edelson, Judy Gardner
Props - Carlton & Jane Maryott
Photography - Harvey Levine
Program - Denise Young, Laura Hubbard
Surtitles - Douglas Maryott
Cover & Poster Art - Erika White Abrams
Publicity - Ed Vilade
House Management - Cassandra Stevens
Set Storage - Rockville Civic Center

Director's Note

Die Fledermaus (“The Bat”) has the distinction of being one of the silliest pieces of fluff in operatic history. Still, it contains some of the most engaging music ever to flow from the pen of that master of engaging music, Johann Strauss, Jr. “The Waltz King.” Each of the three acts offers waltzes (of course) and polkas (naturally) along with ensembles rivaling those in the grandest of grand opera.

The subject matter is Animal House set to music: flirting with the wrong people, drinking too much, telling lies, pretending to be someone you are not, avoiding what you should be doing in favor of what you want to be doing – what’s not to like, right? Yet along the way, the opera manages to satirize upper class idleness, bourgeois pretensions, and the knack of all classes for self-deception. It’s hard to believe Mr. Gilbert didn’t have a hand in the writing of it . . .

In researching for this production, I discovered that Johann Strauss, Jr. was a wildman: he rebelled against his composer father in order to be a musician himself (Dad wanted Jr. to be a banker – is that why Gabriel von Eisenstein is a banker?) was a revolutionary (arrested for performing La Marseilles,) and travelled the world (touring Russia in the 1850s and the United States in the 1870s.) He married three times. He was much admired by other composers, and counted among his personal friends the great Johannes Brahms. In Strauss’s honor, we offer what we hope is a wilder than usual Fledermaus.

In rehearsing this production, we have had far too much fun with the silliness, and taken great joy in the beauty of the music. This present company is blessed with gifted actors, screwball comedians, sparkling dancers, and so, so many wonderful singers. We are also blessed by the talents of brilliant and devoted theater techs, and by an orchestra that just keeps sounding better and better each time I hear them. It is to this company I dedicate my participation in this production; I offer special thanks to Joe, to Denise, to Tammi, to William, Anna, and Becky, to Carl and Jane, to Jenny, Addy, and Judy, to Felicity and Christine, to the good people of Holy Redeemer and All Saints’, and most of all to the cast, crew, and orchestra of Die Fledermaus: what a marvelous group of people you are! In memory of Ed, Al, and Gordon, all of whom are probably singing along. (Gordon, we’re using your benches - again!) And in memory of Randy Mauldin, who showed me what is possible.

And to you, our audience - Thank you for coming out for this performance, for sharing the champagne and sparkle of New Year’s Eve with us during the late winter dark: A toast! A toast! A toast!

Synopsis

Act I
Vienna, 1890s. Through the windows of the Eisenstein home floats the serenade of Alfred, a tenor still in love with his old flame Rosalinda, now the wife of Gabriel von Eisenstein. Adele, a chambermaid, saunters in reading an invitation to a masked ball; Rosalinda, believing she has heard Alfred's voice, enters but finds only Adele. The maid asks for the evening off to visit a "sick aunt," a plea her mistress dismisses. Alfred steps into the room and begins to woo Rosalinda, who resists his blandishments but melts on hearing his high A. Eisenstein and his lawyer, Blind, arrive from a session in court: Eisenstein has been sentenced to a fortnight in jail for a civil offense. No sooner does he dismiss the incompetent advocate than his friend Falke comes to invite Eisenstein to a masquerade, suggesting he bring along his repeater stop-watch, which charms all the ladies, so he can accumulate pleasant memories to sustain him during his confinement in jail. Rosalinda joins Adele in a bittersweet farewell to Eisenstein before he goes off to prison, got up, to his wife's surprise, in full evening dress. Sending Adele to her "aunt," Rosalinda receives the ardent Alfred. Their tête-à-tête is interrupted by the warden Frank, who mistakes Alfred for the man he has come to arrest. Rosalinda persuades Alfred to save her name by posing as her husband, and Frank carts him off to jail.

Act II
In an antechamber at the palace of Prince Orlovsky, the nobleman's guests, Adele and her cousin Ida among them, await the arrival of their host. Orlovsky enters, quite bored. The prince proclaims his guests free to do anything that suits their fancy — "Chacun à son gout." Adele, dressed in one of Rosalinda's gowns, laughs off Eisenstein's suggestion that she resembles his wife's chambermaid. Frank enters, and Rosalinda, also invited by Falke, arrives disguised as a temperamental Hungarian countess; she is soon wooed by her own husband, whose pocket watch she steals to hold as proof of his philandering. Rosalinda agrees to sing a song about her "native" land, a spirited czardas, after which the guests move on to a magnificent dining area to toast the joys of wine, good fellowship and love. Champagne flows, and the guests dance wildly until dawn. When the clock strikes six, Eisenstein staggers off to keep his appointment at the jail.

Act III
Moments later at the prison, Frosch, a drunken jailer, tries to keep order among the inmates, who are unable to sleep because of Alfred's singing. Frank arrives, still giddy with champagne, followed shortly by Ida and Adele, who, thinking him a theatrical agent, believes he might further her stage aspirations. Frank, hearing someone at the door, hides the girls in a cell and then admits Eisenstein, who has come to begin his sentence. The new prisoner is surprised to learn his cell is already occupied by a man who claims to be Eisenstein and who was found supping with Rosalinda; to obtain an explanation from the impostor, Eisenstein snatches a legal robe and wig from his astonished lawyer. No sooner is he disguised than Rosalinda hurries in to secure Alfred's release and press divorce charges against her errant husband. With her would-be paramour, she confides her flirtation to the "lawyer." Enraged, Eisenstein removes his disguise and accuses his wife of promiscuity, at which Rosalinda whips forth the watch she took from him at the ball. Orlovsky and his guests arrive to celebrate the reconciliation of Rosalinda and Eisenstein, singing a final toast.

Musical Selections

Act I
  • Turtle-dove who flew aloft (Alfred, Adele)
  • Ah, my lady says (Rosalinda, Adele)
  • When these lawyers don't deliver (Rosalinda, Eisenstein, Blind)
  • Come along to the ball (Falke, Eisenstein)
  • To part is such sweet sorrow (Rosalinda, Adele, Eisenstein)
  • Drink my darling (Rosalinda, Alfred)
  • Good sir, are you accusing me? (Rosalinda, Alfred, Frank)
  • No, no, you set my doubts at rest (Rosalinda, Alfred, Frank)
Act II
  • What a joy to be here (Chorus)
  • From time to time I entertain (Prince Orlovsky)
  • My, friends your kind attention! (Adele, Orlovsky, Eisenstein, Falke, Chorus)
  • How engaging, how capricious (Rosalinda, Eisenstein)
  • Gala (Dame Juliana Schimmernd von Sängertrillern, Sally & members of the ballet)
  • Voice of my homeland (Rosalinda)
  • Champagne's delicious bubbles (Ensemble)

Act III
  • Melodrama (Frank)
  • Ever since I was a baby (Adele, Sally, Frank)
  • To judge his expression (Rosalinda, Alfred, Eisenstein)
  • Finale (Ensemble)