In "Die Fledermaus," which was first performed in 1874, Michael Ballam and company at the Utah Festival Opera give the same ploy a spin.
And the result is striking. The show walks the thin wire between popular culture and high culture with hardly a slip or loss of balance.This "Fledermaus" even has a touch of sit-com about it. But then the libretto does lend itself to some saucy interpretations - especially in the English version.
The story runs like this: Eisenstein (Michael Ballam) is about to go to jail for "boxing the ears" of a cop. His wife isn't sad to see him go, however, since it means her boyfriend Alfred (James Miller) can drop by for a visit. He does, and is promptly arrested as Eisenstein.
Meanwhile, Dr. Falke (John Brandstetter) has invited several of his "friends," including Eisenstein's wife and her maid, to a party at Prince Orlovsky's. He has supplied them all with phony titles and passes them off as high society. His plan is to show Eisenstein as a fool, a "payback" for a past practical joke involving a bat.
In the end, everyone ends up laughing and drinking and carrying on pretty much as they did before it all began.
For this version of "Fledermaus," director Vince Liotta adds a full dose of physical comedy. Ballam, for instance, is almost Chaplinesque in his mugging and movements. And Frank (John Shuffle) is as rubbery and fumbling as Gordon Jump in his role of prison warden.
Several minor players - John Hansen (as Frosh) and Ryan Olsen (Dr. Blind) - seem to have come from a recent Hollywood rewrite.
But despite the debts owed to pop romantic comedies, "Fledermaus" itself must rise or fall on its music.
And like a bat, this one rises. As Adele (the chambermaid who tries to pass herself off as royalty), Susan Deauvono is spry, spirited and in fine voice. Mary Shearer's Rosalinda is full of brass, Rebecca Ravenshaw's Prince Orlovsky is oily and sleek, and even Miller's Alfred packs a wallop in his comic arias.
The biggest applause, however, should be saved for the chorus work (Elvera Voth), costumes (Patricia Johnson) and sets (Peter Deann Beck). All are top of the line.
Henry Holt, as music director, helps the orchestra establish an understated but driving presence and - as in "Butterfly" - Nicholas Cavallaro's lighting seems to be establishing itself as UFOC's true trademark.