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Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2008 > June > 02 > Entry
Review: Austin Lyric Opera’s ‘The Bat’
Any fair assessment of Austin Lyric Opera’s production of “The Bat,” now being performed in Dell Hall at the Long Center, needs to begin by considering the size and difficulty of rewriting a well-known opera with its setting in Austin. But the creative brains behind Esther’s Follies — Shaun Wainwright-Branigan handling dialogue and Lyova Rosanoff and Steve Saugey providing often brilliant rhymed couplets for the music — have crafted an affectionate and funny send-up of all things Austin-tacious whose quality, sustained over the length of a three-hour show, is generally spectacular.
Anyone who is acquainted with “Die Fledermaus,” Johann Strauss Jr.’s first, most popular and probably best operetta, should enjoy the deft sensitivity with which the authors blend elements of the original story and text with a multitude of modern and local references. Weird things happen at a costume party at the Driskill Hotel hosted by “Jefferson Kodosky” (played by Joseph Frank), at which hardly a notable Austinite, character or even landmark is not represented: Willie Nelson, Lance Armstrong, the Mangia dinosaur, the Texas Capitol, the University of Texas Tower, on and on. Burnt orange and Longhorn logos are everywhere. Genuine Austin performers make guest appearances; at my show the Biscuit Brothers and Albert & Gage provided a refreshing 10-minute interlude.
I was surprised at some of the abysmal Texas dialects displayed. Only Ev Lunning Jr. (originally from Iowa and a faculty member at St. Edward’s University), as the jailer Frosch in the last act, nailed the look and the sound of a son of Texas and threw in a couple of good “bits” besides.
The really extraordinary moments in the original “Die Fledermaus” were the few passages where the new lyrics felt clunky: the intoxicating salute to champagne in this version mentioned almost every well-known alcoholic beverage except champagne; and the sweet hymn to brotherhood and love appropriately became a love song to Austin, but the new text was earthbound next to the refined music.
This production includes plenty of excellent singing, though there aren’t any stars. Austin is the star this time. Richard Buckley, with the ALO orchestra and chorus, provided a spirited musical backdrop to the proceedings. This production is something that just can’t happen anywhere else and surely won’t happen again here anytime soon. If you can get tickets for the second weekend, don’t miss it.
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By Ann
June 9, 2008 10:49 AM | Link to this
I saw the final performance on Saturday and loved every minute! I too am hoping a DVD will be made available - ALO are you listening? Phil, you must not be familiar with the original Die Fledermaus, or you would know that it is a long-standing tradition to present other acts during the Act II party scene. Of course, these other acts are usually visiting opera stars or ballet dancers, but I really enjoyed the Austin City Limits flavor within the opera. In Vienna, the concert within the opera can go on for as much as an hour, and everyone expects to be entertained at length.
By jack
June 6, 2008 4:45 PM | Link to this
Die Fledermaus? I don’t think so. The sophmoric, corny dialogue and the cutsy, silly lyrics might have been appropriate for a college or high school production. But for the Austin Lyric Opera in its new venue; no way! This was demeaning to the ALO’s stature as a cultural gem of Austin, not to mention to Mr. Strauss.
By Melissa Voellinger
June 6, 2008 10:51 AM | Link to this
Saw it last night. It is/was fantastic. I thought it reflected the character of Austin. I don’t know of any other city with such a unique personality. The joining of Strauss, Ester’s Follies and Austin was/is a unique idea. Everyone who has any connection with Austin (and even those who don’t) should see it. It should be preserved as a film presentation for all to see (maybe a DVD for fund raising).
By Philip Schwartz
June 6, 2008 10:01 AM | Link to this
O.k., here comes a minority opinion:
Yeah, the music is beautiful and so are the sets and costumes (although, at one point, a character who is supposed to be in uniform is merely dressed in a formal suit), but the Texas translation is horrendous! The rhymes are terribly corny, two comic set pieces go on forever (one involving Ev Lunning as a cop who hears a prisoner’s operatic voice every time he opens a file cabinet. How many times does he have to do THAT before we get it??). But most of the humor seems to involve the naming—yes, naming—of places and people of Austin. This might be funny if the operetta still took place in Austria. But it takes place in Austin. Where is the comedic point of mentioning famous Austin landmarks if we already know that we’re in Austin. And that ten-minute interlude, with real Austin musicians, turning opera into Opry? It made me feel that the music of Strauss was too boring for the intended audience, so the thoughtful creators of this show provided us with music that can really be appreciated. On a four star scale, I give this one two stars, folks.
Phil Schwartz