DIE FLEDERMAUS - Johann strauss

OCTOBER 10 AND 12, 2008

Act I: The opera opens in the home of wealthy Gabriel von Eisenstein, where the vain Alfred, former flame of Eisenstein’s wife Rosalinda, dons Eisenstein’s dressing gown and makes himself at home. Expecting her husband home at any moment, Rosalinda tries to discourage him. Meanwhile, the parlor maid Adele wants the evening off to attend a party where she hopes to further her acting career. The master returns home ready to serve a short jail term for having ridiculed a man costumed as a bat during Carnival; but instead he succumbs to Dr. Falke’s invitation to a party and leaves with him under the pretense of going to jail. Enter the prison governor Frank, ready to take his prisoner to jail before going to a party. He is not much interested in identifying his charge, and takes Alfred, who goes along rather than compromise Rosalinda’s situation. She, in turn, gets ready to attend a party herself. The plot thickens as they all are invited to the same party.

Act II: Dr. Falke has arranged the party at the home of the rich, bored Prince Orlofsky, partly to amuse the prince but also to wreak revenge on Eisenstein. Prison Governor Frank, introduced as Chevalier Chagrin, flirts with Adele, who thinks he can help her acting career. Eisenstein, disguised as a Frenchman, Marquis Renard, flirts with his own wife, who is disguised as a Hungarian countess. At this point, some of the partygoers recognize other guests, while some do not. The festivities break up at six in the morning as Eisenstein goes to serve his time in jail.

Act III: At the jail, Alfred has spent the night in a cell, relieving his boredom by singing operatic arias to the drunken and very annoyed jailer, Frosh. Singly and in pairs, the partygoers arrive. Confusion explodes into bedlam, and Dr. Falke finally confesses he staged the whole fiasco. Matters do get sorted out, and the opera ends with Eisenstein relieving Alfred to serve his sentence in jail.

	Sadie Dawkins Rosales, Rosalinde: Sadie grew up in Bozeman, Montana and saw her first opera here as a child — the 1983 Intermountain Opera production of Elixir of Love. She made her Intermountain Opera debut as Musetta in La Boheme (1995) after studying at the Cleveland Institute of Music and singing several roles with Cleveland Lyric Opera. She has sung lead roles with the Little Opera Company of New Jersey, received numerous singing and scholarship awards, and made her Carnegie Hall debut in Einstein on the Beach with the Philip Glass Ensemble. She also presented a solo recital in May 2008 in the Special Presentation Winners Series at Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall. An advocate for new music she frequently sings in contemporary concerts in the New York City area.
	Sean Anderson as Eisenstein: Sean made his Intermountain Opera debut in this role. He has sung with the New York City Opera, Sarasota Opera, Dicapo Opera, New Jersey State Opera, Ohio Light Opera, Indianapolis Opera and Western Opera Theater. He made his international debut in the title role in Dominick Argento’s Casanova in Lucca, Italy. In 2004 he performed in the Baz Luhrman production of La Boheme on Broadway.
	Catherine Viscardi as Adele: A New Jersey native who now lives in Bozeman, Montana, Catherine made her Intermountain Opera debut as Mercedes in Carmen. She has had young artist residencies with the Ash Lawn Opera in Virginia and the Portland Opera where she sang the Queen of the Night in outreach productions of The Magic Flute. She has been a soprano soloist with the Bozeman Symphony, the Norwalk and Allentown Symphonies and the Greater Bridgeport Symphony.
	Richard Clifford, Director, is a highly regarded director. At the Folger Theater in Washington, he has staged his productions of Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer (2002) and John Milton's Comus (2001). In his production of August Strindberg's Playing the Wife, performed at England's Chichester Festival in 1995, he had the privilege of directing actor Derek Jacobi. Clifford also directed one of the most widely publicized events in Britain in 2000: A Salute to the Man of the Millennium, a London bash at which the likes of Judi Dench, Helena Bonham Carter, and Bob Hoskins paid tribute to Shakespeare and honored Branagh for his contributions to popularizing Shakespeare. Clifford directed IOA’s Gilbert & Sullivan productions of Pirates of Penzance (2005) and The Mikado (2006). Shakespeare fans in Britain and America generally are well acquainted with the work of Richard Clifford as an actor. After performing regularly in acclaimed productions of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he appeared in other Shakespeare productions on Broadway and in London's West End. In addition, he has acted in three of pal Kenneth Branagh's Shakespeare films: Love's Labour's Lost (2000) as Boyet, a lord in the company of the Princess of France; Much Ado About Nothing (1993) as Conrade, a follower of the evil Don John; and Henry V (1989), as the Duke of Orleans, one of the leaders of the French army. Clifford has also performed in productions based on the works or the lives of other giants of literature, including Gulliver in Lilliput (1982), Cyrano de Bergerac (1985), Little Dorrit (1988), Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), and The Infinite Worlds of H.G. Wells (2001). The New York Times give a filmography at http://movies.nytimes.com/person/13673/Richard-Clifford/filmography
	Julian Dawson, Conductor, is Musical Director of the Intermountain Opera Association. Il Trovatore will be his eighth production with IOA having conducted Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado, The Magic Flute, Carmen, Die Fledermaus, La Bohème and The Ballad of Baby Doe. Born in Dublin, Ireland, Dawson was associate conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Scottish Opera. While still in the United Kingdom he was also coach and associate conductor at Glyndebourn Opera in England. He moved to the US in 1975 and was Director of Orchestras and Opera at Illinois State University for 26 years and opera conductor for nine seasons at the Brevard Music Center as well as being principal coach of the Chicago Opera Theatre. He recently spent five summers as conductor for the Oberlin in Italy opera program in Urbania, Italy and is currently an adjunct member of the music faculty at Northwestern University. He has also enjoyed a career as a pianist and has appeared frequently in recitals and concerts in Europe and the U.S.
	Russell Milburn as Dr. Blind: Russell also served as chorus director for Die Fledermaus. He is conductor of the Bozeman Symphonic Choir and Director of Music at First Presbyterian Church in Bozeman. He has performed soloist roles in a number of choral concerts and performed with the Flemish Radio Choir in modern choral productions recorded for public radio broadcast at venues in Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg and France.
	Darrell Babidge as Falke: Darrell made his IOA debut a few years ago as Silvio in Pagliacci. He has sung with the Salt Lake Symphony, Music in the Mountains Orchestra in California, at Carnegie Hall as a soloist in Faure’s Requiem and Mozart’s Coronation Mass, several roles with Utah Festival Opera and with the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera.
	Pedro Armando Rosales as Alfred: Making his IOA debut in this role, Pete has sung the title role in Faust at the New York Opera Forum. He has also sung with the Opera Company of Astoria, Amato Opera, Cantiamo Opera Co., the Little Opera Company of New Jersey and Verismo Opera.
	Lukas Graf as Frank: Lukas began singing opera as an MSU student and was a member of our chorus five times. He sang El Dancairo in our 2008 Carmen, and has also sung with Colorado Light Opera, University of Colorado, and has served as musical director for Missoula Community Theatre in his home town.
	Olivia Kahler as Orlofsky: Olivia first sang with IOA as the madrigal singer in our 2006 Manon Lescaut. She has sung with companies in England and Germany, spending one summer singing Despina in a production of Cosi Fan Tutte at the Pasinger Fabrik Company. She attended MSU as well as the Bristol Academy of Performing Arts in England.
	Coco Douma as Ida: