the opera

last night i went to see "die fledermaus," which means the fluttering mouse in german, or the bat. the austin lyric opera presented it at the new long center for the performing arts, the replacement for palmer auditorium.

i got to see it courtesy of a generous editing client, who has season tickets but was unable to go to this production.

my friend john gough, who plays cello with the williamson county orchestra and who LOVES opera, came with me. our seats--row M, orchestra level--were excellent.

i'd seen one live opera before this, when i was in junior high or high school, and it was confusing and boring to me. in german. it was mozart's "the magic flute," and although i enjoyed the music, i hadn't a clue what was going on. i've listened to arias and appreciate them, but wasn't too interested in watching an entire opera. until now.

die fliedermaus was earthy, bawdy, funny, and in english. in short, accessible. the libretto was rewritten by three esther's follies writers, who moved johann strauss jr.'s opera to austin.

thus, the set for the first act had a backdrop of the capital, UT tower, and frost bank tower. the second act is set at the driskill hotel, and the final act takes place at the travis county jail.

the storyline had holes a mile wide, but i don't think anyone cared. the cast seemed to be having a blast.

there were even bits of the overture (the first part that the orchestra plays by itself, says john) that were familiar to me from bugs bunny cartoons! click the title of this post to hear the overture on youtube. go to 2:40 and 4:58 to hear. i can just see bugs, daffy, and porky dancing!

it's not all singing, either, and even when there IS singing (in english), there are still supertitles in english, because, you know, when the soprano, tenor, and baritone are all singing different words at once, it can be hard to understand. i appreciated that.

the second act's costume party featured willie nelson, stevie ray vaughn, the capitol building, the UT tower, a pink flamingo, peter pan (of mini-golf fame--he's gay, don't you know?), the mangia pizza dinosaur, the hyde park bar & grill fork and french fries, and more. then the biscuit brothers AND the quebe sisters entertained the party guests (and us, the audience). nice!

the bat was definitely an in-the-know wink at austin life.

oh, and the singer who played the warden looked just like david dewhurst, our illustrious lieutenant governor!

it's 3 hours long, with two intermissions, during which you can go out on the long center's patio and view the rapidly changing austin skyline--and a few bats fluttering around.