Cast

Creative Team

ACT I 

Gabriel von Eisenstein is a philandering man-about-town, facing a short prison sentence for insulting a public official (extended thanks to a dust-up with his incompetent lawyer, Dr Blind). Eisenstein’s charming and conniving friend, Dr. Falke convinces him to delay his incarceration for one night to attend a lavish masquerade party hosted by an eccentric “Prince Orlofsky”. Unbeknownst to Eisenstein, “Orlofsky” is a club owner accomplice of Falke’s, and the entire evening is a con, orchestrated as an elaborate prank to exact revenge for a past humiliation where Eisenstein had abandoned a very drunk Falke dressed in a bat costume (Fledermaus is German for Bat and the opera is sometimes called The Revenge of the Bat). Meanwhile, Eisenstein’s wife, Rosalinde, plans to take advantage of her husband’s absence to entertain her lover, the enthralled Alfred. Eisentein’s maid, Adele, is also scheming to attend the party, pretending she needs the night off to visit a sick relative. As Eisenstein leaves for the ball dressed to impress, Alfred arrives to serenade Rosalinde but is mistaken for her husband by Frank, the prison Governor, and is arrested in his place. 

ACT II 

At Orlofsky’s party, the atmosphere is charged with champagne and intrigue. Eisenstein arrives, under an assumed identity for the night, “Le Marquis de Renard”, unaware that Falke has set a trap to expose his infidelities. Adele, disguised as a glamorous chorus girl, also attends and confounds Eisenstein with her uncanny resemblance to his maid. She also captures the attention of Governor Frank who is posing as a patron of the arts, “Le Chevalier Chagrin”. Rosalinde, invited by Falke, and masked as a mysterious Hungarian countess, arrives to spy on Eisenstein, and entraps him into shamelessly flirting with her in disguise. The guests drink, dance, and toast to the joys of life and love, with Orlofsky and Falke reveling in the chaos. Falke’s plan begins to take shape as he watches the tangled web of disguises and indiscretions unfold. By the end of the night, the characters are dizzy with champagne and deception, unaware of the consequences awaiting them in the morning. 

ACT III 

The action shifts to the local jail, where chaos reigns under the watch of the hapless jailer, Frosch, and the immensely hungover Frank. Adele and her sister Ida arrive to make good on a drunken promise, to Frank’s mortification. Eisenstein finally arrives to serve his sentence, only to discover Alfred in his place, along with Rosalinde, who reveals her own disguise from the ball. In a fuming confrontation, all the night’s deceptions are exposed. Falke’s grand scheme is revealed to be a playful act of revenge, and the characters, now sobered and contrite, reconcile in true operetta fashion, all is forgiven as they toast to love, laughter, and the joys of champagne