Virginia Opera’s bubbly production of Die Fledermaus opens in Norfolk next week! Here to fill us in on all the behind-the-scenes singing and dancing is our very own Resident Conductor and Chorus Master Adam Turner.
With unforgettable characters and a plot steeped equally in dramatic revenge and comedic timing, it's not surprising that Johann Strauss II's operetta has withstood the test of time. In fact, Strauss' Die Fledermaus was itself an adaptation of the early 19th-century farce The Prison by Benedix and the French vaudville play, Le révillon by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. Die Fledermaus premiered in Vienna in the spring of 1874 and has since transcended genres, time-period settings and languages to entertain audiences for almost 140 years.
Coming up at the end of this month, opera companies, organizations and fans will be honoring National Opera Week—a nationwide celebration taking place Friday, October 26 through Sunday, November 4 coordinated by OPERA America with support of the National Endowment for the Arts.
It takes a village to build a village. And a fantastically talented village to clothe one. From Costume Designer Merrily Murray-Walsh to Virginia Opera Costume Shop Director Pat Seyller and her team, the “village” behind the exquisite Pearl Fishers costumes worked tirelessly for months to craft the community of Ceylon. When the curtain was ready to rise, there were over 48 costumes created for our production. To make the costumes extraordinary, Merrily enlisted the help of Marliss Jensen, who is here with us today to discuss her unique dye-painting process that helped bring the people of Ceylon to life in such a beautiful way.
