Strauss: Die Fledermaus

CHORUS: Xingyan Chen, Shanti Fowler-Puja, Yejin Jang, Ty Johnson, Dongyang Li,
Xiangning Ouyang, Melissa Pereyra, Sydney Pexton, Alexis Reese, Zeyu Song,
Lara Amber Suer, Valentine Umeh, KaiLiang Wei, Dong Eun Yoon

Members of NEC Philharmonia

Violin 1  
Minami Yoshida, June Chung, Cherin Lee

Violin 2  
Sarah Campbell, Hannah Park, Chiung-Han Tsai

Viola      
Asher Boorstin, Elton Tai

Cello      
Sarah Tindall, Pi-Wei Lin

Double Bass          
Colby Heimburger, Alyssa Peterson

Flute/Piccolo         
Jeong Won Choe

Oboe      
Donovan Bown

Clarinet 
Sarah Cho

Bassoon  
Adam Chen

French horn          
Noah Silverman, Grace Clarke

Trumpet 
Nelson Martinez

Timpani 
Ross Jarrell

Percussion            
Ngaieng Lai, Rohan Zakharia

Harp      
Jingtong Zhang
 

Synopsis

Herr von Eisenstein played a cruel practical joke on his friend, Dr. Falke. Having had many years to obsess over the subsequent embarrassment, Dr. Falke has planned an elaborate plot to extract revenge on his old ‘friend’….

 ACT I

Outside the Eisenstein home, the tenor Alfred serenades his old flame Rosalinda, who is now married to Gabriel von Eisenstein. Adele receives a letter from her sister Ida inviting her to a great party held by Prince Orlofsky that night. She is determined to get the night off. Eisenstein and his lawyer, Dr. Blind arrive announcing that his jail sentence is now increased from five days to eight for arguing with the judge. Despite the fact that his jail term begins that evening, Dr. Falke, Eisenstein’s friend, convinces him to go to a party instead. After a dramatic farewell, Rosalinda reads a letter given to her by Dr. Falke, which asks her to go to the very same party in disguise. Alfred visits Rosalinda and attempts to seduce her, but she rebuffs him. Frank, the prison warden,  enters and mistakes Alfred for Eisenstein. To avoid a scandal, Rosalinda persuades Alfred to claim to be her husband. Frank then promptly escorts him to jail.

 Intermission

 ACT II

At the party, Prince Orlofsky explains that he does not tolerate his guests looking bored, and that everyone must drink and celebrate. Dr. Falke, who has masterminded the plot to encourage the bored Prince to finally laugh, introduces to him the key players of his ‘domestic comedy.’ Eisenstein is disguised as the Marquis de Renard, Adele as the actress Olga, the prison warden as a fellow Frenchman, the Chevalier Chagrin, and finally Rosalinda as a mysterious masked Hungarian Countess. After mistaking ‘Olga’ for his chambermaid, Eisenstein tries to seduce the Countess, unaware that she is his wife, Rosalinda. The guests engage in a rousing finale, singing to love and the joys of champagne as Eisenstein and Frank rush off to jail.

ACT III

The next morning Frank and the jailor, Frosh, are passed out from the excesses of the previous night. Adele and Ida arrive to ask Frank to help start Adele’s career as an actress. Eisenstein arrives at the jail to begin his sentence, and both he and Frank reveal their true identities. However, Eisenstein gets a shock when he is informed that he has ‘already’ been arrested. Dr. Blind arrives and Eisenstein takes advantage of this to get to the bottom of the mystery of who has impersonated him. Rosalinda, who has arrived at the jail to retrieve Alfred, mistakes Eisenstein for a notary and explains both her predicament with Alfred, and her desire to divorce Eisenstein. Eisenstein reveals his identity and accuses his wife of infidelity, at which point Rosalinda produces his watch. Falke appears with the party guests and explains that the whole thing was set up to get revenge on Eisenstein and that everyone, even Rosalinda, was in on the joke. Frank promises to help Adele become an actress, Orlovsky finally laughs, Eisenstein blames the alcohol for his infidelity, and Rosalinda forgives him.