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By Karen and Tom Copple
The operetta "Die
Fledermaus" was the last
production at the University
by John Zei, who has done
much to promote opera in the
aiea.
In the overture, the
orchestra directed by Richard
Grace was well-balanced and
rich in sound.
If you had seen
"Fledermaus" presented in the
Viennese style, there was a
definite shock upon the
opening of the curtain. If not,
the set was well-done and quite
luxuriously furnished.
However, we have difficulty
finding a teason for the large
number of modern paintings
up stage right. They presented
too much of a distraction to
the viewer.
Art conflict
In addition, there was a
conflict of art on stage. Why
with all that modern art would
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there be a Greek statue by the
door? The set itself had a
problem in that there was only
one exit to the outside. When
Eisenstein exited for jail
(actually the party) and Alfred
came in to woo Rosalinds, the
two gentlemen couldn't have
helped seeing one another. It
would have been more
believable to have had Alfred
duck down behind the picture
window momentarily; or have
Eisenstein exit from stage
right, letting us imagine a more
acceptable exit.
Excellent music
The music of the oichestra
by itself was excellent.
However, by mid Act I the age
old battle that exists between
the singeis and the orchestra
had begun, and the oichestra
was winning.
The set for Act II was
striking and excellently lighted
with the right touch of
naughty red. Howevet, there
seemed to lx' a conflict of
periods in the costumes. We
had either fad 1973 or early
1920's, plus old Cossack, in
addition to a doorman dressed
in early eighteenth century.
The movement, in and out,
of the large chorus was well
done because it did not detract
from the main characters. The
vocal sound from the chorus
was full and added to the
musical enjoyment of the
operetta. The entire act
dragged because of a lack of
diction, the pace of the
dialogue, and the positions of
the actor s, many of whom had
to cross the vast gulf of the
stage before speaking.
Exhausted characters?
In Act II, the men still had
control of their voices, but the
singing in general had lost
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something. First the characters
might have been exhausted
from trying to push then
voices over the orchestra.
Second, in the women's voices
there seemed to be a lack of
solid technique on the high
notes, which caused them to be
harsh' and constricted. Sandra
(Jtsumi had little difficulty
with her aria. Jeanne Dietrich
had some problem with
tightness in her aria, but
carried it off beautifully with
enough sense not to have hung
on to the final high note.
The dancers in Act II were
good in what they presented. It
seemed at that type of a party
with all the promiscuous side
lines, there could have been
dancing with a little more flair.
Everything lost
Everything we started with
in Act I seemed to be totally
lost by Act III, with two
exceptions. The warden's
entrance was funny. Kent Hall
does a fine characterization.
But Jill Eiche with her cat calls
helped to carry the act through
some shaky moments. She
possesses a brilliant sense of
dramatic humor. With the play
updated, the old style jail in
Act III didn't quite fit. But
then there didn't seem to be
any motivation for the fire
either.
In summary, many things in
the operetta didn't mesh
together. The actors had the
right emotions, facial reactions
and gestures, but they all
seemed to be independent of
each other. The vocal
production of the men was
very secure throughout the
oeretta. The voices of John
Brandstetter, Rick Brandt and
Kent Hall were resonant and
full sounding throughout the
entire show. As a rule we
found the minor roles to be
very strong and secure.
"Die Fledermaus" was a
very ambitious undertaking for
a summer production.
However, there was a thread of
inconsistency in the fitting
together of the show, and
when we compare it to other
productions we find it lacking
the polish of past endeavors.
I.
mil
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tuosday, august 7, 1973
