Die Fledermaus To Die For!

Die Fledermaus, or literally "The Flying Mouse" or "The Bat" is one opera I have to say I enjoyed tremendously! Otterbein put it on (in English) and it was amazing! The cast was wonderful, led by Jen Braun and David Kaverman as Rosalinda and Gabriel von Eisenstein / the Countess and Marquis Renard. Show stealers included Nora Erhardt as Adele the chambermaid / Tanya Vanya, Robert Price as Frank the prison warden / Chevalier Chagrin, and especially David Price as Frosch the jailer. For those of you unfamiliar with the plot, a man named Dr. Falke (Brian Gray) is mad at Gabriel for tricking him and publically embarassing him last year when Falke was left dressed as a bat and wants revenge. Gabriel is supposed to be going to jail for eight days for insulting an official, but Falke convinces him to go to a party hosted by the humorless Prince Orlofsky (Caitlin Szarnecki) who has been promised no boredom tonight. Falke also manipulates Adele to attend as the actress Tanya and Rosalind to attend as a masked Countess, as well as the warden as a Chevalier. Hilarity ensues as Rosalind's lover is arrested and mistaken for Gabriel, and Gabriel falls for the Countess at the party. It all culminates back in the jail cell with a few unexpected twists and much drunkeness. I cannot recommend it enough. Frosch, as well as being the jailer left behind during the party, frequently comes on stage to stop the action and talk to the audience while highly inebriated. He makes some cracks about the 2005 Hockey Season, Westerville, viagra, and someone named Eckenroth. They put a few modern references in such as us finding out Frank the warden is actually just moonlighting as a warden because his hockey team (The Blue Jackets - during one scene he dones the jersey) is on strike. Shh, don't tell the NHL! I would highly recommend this show. It will be performed in Riley tonight at 8pm and tomorrow at 2pm. Tickets are $5 for students. Oh, and Scott Henning came down from Cleveland and saw the show with me, and then him and Nora and Nora's family and I went to Steak 'n' Shake which was a lot of fun. And no work today!

Qop!
"I once was so desperate for booze that I tried to squeeze the juice out of scotch tape!"
~ David Price as Frosch, Die Fledermaus