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| Strauss’s Die Fledermaus in rehearsal with Olivia Singleton (Adele), Ashley Mercer (Frank), Meliza Metzger (Ida) – St Paul’s Opera |
On 4 July 2024, my local opera company St Paul’s Opera debuts their 2024 main production, Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus at St Paul’s Church, Clapham. The opera is directed by Johnny Danciger with George Ireland conducting an instrumental ensemble with Dominic Westwood as Alfred, Olivia Singleton as Adele, Rusne Tuslaite as Rosalinde, Thomas Litchev as Eisenstein and Chris Murphy as Falke. And rather impressively, not only does the company field a full cast and chorus, but there is a cover cast too.
Evening performances from 4 to 6 July offer the possibility of picnicking in the grounds of St Paul’s Church beforehand, whilst there is a family matinee (given by the cover cast) on 6 July.
The operetta has been reimagined in a vintage movie studio, so expect references to Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and other familiar characters in a new script by writer/director Jonny Danciger. The multi-talented Danciger is a stage director, designer and composer, having music at Oxford University, where he specialised in composition and music theatre, and then training in opera direction, taking placements at the Royal Opera House and British Youth Opera, where he assisted Keith Warner. From 2020 to 2022 he was Artistic Director of the OSO theatre in South-West London.
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| Strauss’s Die Fledermaus in rehearsal – cast and ensemble with David Butt Philip (patron of St Paul’s Opera) |
Danciger comments that “it’s important to acknowledge that Die Fledermaus is a fundamentally ‘sexy’ opera. Nowadays it’s easy to misbrand the waltz as restrained, but it was viewed by many at the time to be obscene and hedonistic due to the proximity of the dancing couple. ” He points out that the description ‘The lead dresses up in disguise to seduce/manipulate/test their lover’ could be applied to so many different operas. In Die Fledermaus, disguise and elaborate plots are essential to the opera, and he promises many playful cinematic references.
Full details from St Paul’s Opera’s website.
