Metropolitan Opera Archives

Translation by Dietz, Kanin
Die Fledermaus received eleven performances this season.
Photograph of Kitty Carlisle as Prince Orlofsky by Louis Mélançon/Metropolitan Opera.

Review 1:

Review of John Chapman in the Daily News

Well-cast "Fledermaus" Sparkles at the Met

When Moss Hart and Kitty Carlisle were first-nighting some time back they'd sit in front of us now and then, and when they did I'd lean forward and whisper, "Prettiest Prince Orlofsky I ever saw." And she was a stunner in a 1942 version of Johann Strauss's "Fledermaus" titled "Champagne Sec."

Well, Kitty is still the prettiest prince I ever saw - and I saw her New Year's Eve at the Metropolitan Opera House, making her Met debut as Orlofsky in the Met's traditional year-end performance of "Fledermaus." As slender and attractive as ever, she sang and acted like a pro - which she is, of course.

In Good Spirits

It was a bubbly performance the Met put on, with Franz Allers in charge of a waltzy-schmaltzy orchestra and an attractive company of singers and players. And Rolf Gerard's sets and costumes looked better than they did at the Old Met.

Mary Costa was a beautiful Rosalinda and Roberta Peters ("Look Me Over Once") had lost none of her sass in the role of Adele, the maid. Ron Bottcher was particularly impressive in the role of the warden, and John Reardon was amiable as von Eisenstein. And Jack Gilford, on a one-night leave from "Cabaret," was indispensable as the tipsy turnkey.

The next "Fledermaus" performance will be Saturday afternoon.

A Popular Work

Strauss's operetta has had quite a career in this town. It was given its first performance in Brooklyn, in German, in 1874. In 1885 De Wolf Hopper and Irene Perry did it in English. There was a 1912 production titled "The Merry Countess," in which the fabled Dolly Sisters played Adele and her sister.

In 1929 Fanny Todd Mitchell had a go at revamping the libretto and called it "A Wonderful Night." A minor member of the cast was one Archie Leach, who later changed his name to Cary Grant.

The "Champagne Sec" version, which starred Peggy Wood and Helen Ford, had a book by Lawrence Langner and lyrics by Robert A. Simon. And the Met's "Fledermaus" has lyrics by Howard Dietz and a libretto by Garson Kanin. Kanin has staged the production.

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