Strauss opera fun for the whole family

"With all this carrying on you would think we were at the opera," proclaims the Eisenstiens' chamber maid Adele, played by Shelia Murphy, when she hears a man singing outside of her mistress' window. "At the opera they go on and on usually until somebody dies. That can be arranged you know."\nThis subtle dig on traditional operas marked the first laugh of many for the audience during a humorous and original Austrian opera. \nSaturday marked the first performance of the the IU Opera Theater's last opera of the summer season, an English version of Johann Strauss' 1874 comedic opera "Die Fledermaus" ("Revenge of the Bat"). \nThe first act begins in the Eisenstiens' beautiful living room, where the main characters are introduced, and the mayhem that will unfold in the next two acts is set up. Rosalinda Eisenstein's old flame, an opera singer named Alfred played by Nicholas Coppolo, comes to visit and is mistaken for Rosalinda's husband by the warden who takes him to jail to serve Eisenstein's sentence. Meanwhile Rosalinda (Reyna Carguill), Adele and Eisenstein (Creighton James) are all invited to Prince Orlovsky's ball and are told to pretend they are specific characters of a more courtly stock. \nThe act begins with a powerful solo by Murphy whose soprano soars and trills masterfully as she sings about the terrible world that has made her a chambermaid. The rest of the act features songs sung by several cast members. The songs are masterfully woven with humorous and engaging physical humor and connected with short comedic dialogue. \nWhen the drama escalated and the orchestra crescendoed it was often hard to hear the voices of the singers, especially those that were in the lower registers. The only singer that could not be overpowered by the orchestra was Carguill. Although her soprano is not as high as Murphy's, her range is vast and her voice possesses a captivating power that demands attention. The weakest singer of the ensemble was Frank the Warden, played by Erik Friedman, who could barely be heard over the orchestra when he was singing alone. \nThe energy of the first act was dramatically increased during the second act at Prince Orlovsky's Ball. \nThe act begins as the beautifully dressed ensemble cast of 24 are dancing along with Prince Orlovsky (Jennifer Gill) and Eisenstein's best friend Dr. Falke (Jeffrey Monette). Falke then explains to Prince Orlovsky that he is playing a trick on his friends for his amusement. Gill's soprano contrasted well with Monette's lower range. \nThe farce begins when Adele is introduced as an actress named as Olga and Eisenstein is introduced as Marquis Renard. The funniest part of the second act takes place when both Eisenstein and Frank the Warden are pretending to be Frenchmen and pretend they are speaking French to each other by reciting various French words. When Eisenstein accused Adele of looking like a chamber maid he knows she breaks out into song and convinces everyone she could never be a chamber maid. Murphy pulls off another soaring solo without a hitch as she uses her seductive moves on the men at the ball. \nWhen Rosalinda arrives she is disguised with a mask and introduced as a Hungarian Countess, and her husband, pretending to be a Marquis, tries to seduce her. When Rosalinda is asked to prove that she is Hungarian, Carguill delivers the largest and most stunning solo of the evening. Carguill shows off her talent and the size of her range as she delivers fast lyrics and riveting scales and taps on a tambourine. \nThe act draws to an end as the cast sings, dances and drinks the night away.\nThe play concludes at the jail house and theatrical comedy is employed by Frosh the drunken Irish jailer (Matthew Holzfeind) and the drunken warden returning from the party who deliver hilarious dialogue and masterful physical humor. The play concludes as accusations and confusion mount until Dr. Falke shows up reveal his farce and its meaning.\nAll in all the IU opera theater's production of "Die Fledermaus" is masterful in song as well as physical humor in this most usual and engaging humorous opera.\n"Die Fledermaus" will also be performed Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Musical Arts Center. Tickets are $12 to $22.