Met's comedy full of physical humor

NEW YORK -- Tony Award-winning actor Bill Irwin is making his debut with the Metropolitan Opera in its performance of "Die Fledermaus." The role of Frosch, the drunken jailer who dominates much of the final act of Johann Strauss Jr.'s operetta, a festive comedy often staged during the holiday season.

Instead of the usual political and social jokes, Irwin used physical humor for his routine, contorting his body into various pretzel-like designs. He did take a jab at the Met's seat-back titles, which debuted a decade ago.

Otto Schenk's 1986 production returned for the first time in three seasons, and the Met had a gala performance on New Year's Eve that included special party guests.

The chief delight of the revival is Marlis Petersen, who made her company debut as Adele, the downstairs chambermaid who transforms herself into the actress "Olga" at the big party. She took a campy role that demands overacting and made it charming.

Sondra Radvanovsky gave an elegant portrayal of Rosalinde, the wife of Gabriel von Eisenstein, the man whose bat costume on a previous occasion lends the work its name. Radvanovsky has excellent diction, important in a production that calls for spoken dialogue in English between the songs, performed in the original German. She also has a clarion voice, one that turned unsteady during her second- act czardas, when she is disguised as a Hungarian countess and sings of her "homeland."

Tenor Janez Lotric made his Met debut as Alfred, Rosalinde's old boyfriend. He, too, had a big voice and he tended to bellow.

Rosalinde and Eisenstein must confront their own straying, and it takes a delicate balance to keep the performance fun without straying too far into silly. Danish baritone Bo Skovhus was mischievous as Eisenstein, a role he took in the Met's 1998 revival, and has a smooth voice that fits well into the part.

Marina Domashenko, a Russian mezzo, was a diminutive Orlofsky, who suffers from perpetual boredom. She sang well but her acting didn't make much of an impression.

The rest of the cast included Yvonne Gonzales Redman as Ida, Earle Patriarco as Dr. Falke, John Del Carlo as the jail warden Frank and Bernard Fitch as the bumbling lawyer Dr. Blind. Jacques Lacombe drew a swift performance from the Met orchestra, but some ensemble numbers were not entirely precise at times.

On the Net: www.metopera.org

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