Department of Music presents comic opera 'Die Fledermaus' March 7, 8

Feb. 26, 2008 -- The Department of Music at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro will present the three-act opera, “Die Fledermaus,” under the direction of Ms. Julia Lansford, associate professor of music, on Friday, March 7 and Saturday, March 8, at
 7:30 p.m. in Fowler Center’s Drama Theatre,  
201 Olympic Drive, Jonesboro. Tickets will be
$9 in advance and $10 at the door.

The opera’s title, “Die Fledermaus,” translates as “The Bat” (literally, a “flutter-mouse”), and the music was composed by Johann Strauss. After a fancy-dress ball in which Dr. Falke was dressed as a bat, he was left asleep by his friend Eisenstein on a public bench to be awakened at broad daylight by a jeering crowd. Now Dr. Falke plots revenge. He takes Eisenstein—who should have reported to jail for a minor offense—to a ball given by Prince Orlofsky. There the unsuspecting victim meets his maid and his masked wife, Rosalinda, as well as the prison warden, who had in the meantime arrested a man he believed to be Eisenstein, as he had found him dining cozily with Rosalinda. This is Alfred, Rosalinda’s former lover, a “typical” tenor. The complications come to a climax when all gather at the jail after the party breaks up early in the morning. There Dr. Falke discloses to the astonished Eisenstein that all the night’s harassments had been merely the “bat’s” revenge.

The cast of “Die Fledermaus” includes Don Spencer of Jonesboro as Gabriel Von Eisenstein; Pat Register of Huntsville, Ala., as Rosalinda; Micah Allen of Malden, Mo., as Adele, Jonathan Shields of Paragould as Alfred; John Hays of Jonesboro as Blind; Andrew Kjorlaug of Paragould and Nashville, Tenn., as Dr. Faulke; Derrick Fox of Blytheville and St. Louis, Ill., as Frank; Marc Sexton of Jonesboro as Prince Orlofsky; Dusty Miles of Jonesboro and Dallas, Texas, as Frosch; Jeremy Carter of Paragould as Orlofsky’s servant; and Lisa Grey of Brookland as Ida.

Guests at Orlofsky’s ball will include Donna Rose, Cassie Black, Nancy Corter, Anita Phillips, Lacy Tilton, Liz Smith, Ben Light, Justin Register, Don Hofmann, Anthony Fuller, Sean Pollock, and David Lyttle. Entertainment at the ball will be provided by pianist Dennis Hay of Arkansas Northeastern College in Blytheville.

Members of the orchestra include violins Anna Maria Trujillo of Memphis, William Overcash of Brinkley, Rebecca Markowski of Jonesboro, and Kenna Garcia of Memphis; violas Patricia Cox of Searcy and Chris Overcash of Brinkley; cellos, Amy Vails and Chin-Mei Li, both of Memphis; bass, Tom Mason of Manila; timpani/percussion, Trent Duff of Pocahontas; flutes, Ashley Slayton of Paragould and Candice Crawford of Jonesboro; oboe, Jessica Crociata of Tampa, Fla.; clarinet, Chris Williams of Jonesboro; bassoon, Tiffany Schmidt of Lakewood, Colo.; horns, Charnrit Rerngron-Asa of Thailand and Jeremy Lloyd of Gosnell; trumpets, Jonathan Monroe and Megan Conley, both of Jonesboro; trombone, J.D. Hogue of Jonesboro. The orchestra is under the conduction of Dr. Neale Bartee.

To purchase tickets, visit the ASU Central Box Office online at http://tickets.astate.edu/ or call (870) 972-2781. For more information, contact the Department of Music at (870) 972-2094.

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