May 12, 2007
THE BAT
A Ballet in Two Acts
Music by Johann Strauss
Original Choreography by Roland Petit
Restaged for Ballet Theatre of Scranton by Henry Danton
Produced & Directed by Joanne Arduino
Lighting Design by Dennis M. Size
Costumes by Helen Kasarda/Debbie Sherman
Flying by Foy
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Roland Petit’s ballet La Chauve – Souris (The Bat, aka,
Die Fledermaus) was created for the Ballet Nationale de
Marseille in 1979 and had its premiere in Monte Carlo. It
underwent a metamorphosis from the original operetta in
changing the setting from Vienna to Paris and in
changing a few of the characters titles.
Johann & Bella are a slightly bored, thoroughly bourgeois
married couple ensconced in their comfortable home.
Ulrich, Bella’s admirer, is a manipulative joker & ladies
man who slips into all sorts of roles with chaplinesque
comic facility.
“The Bat” title was given a new connotation, Johann rises
from the marital bed costumed as a bat, and flies off for
a night’s adventure at Maxim’s. Bella, egged on by
Ulrich, follows him and starts to play a number of roles in
order to turn Johann’s head. True to the genre, he totally
fails to recognize his own lawful wife. Complication piles
on complication, pandemonium ends with the arrival of
the police. Johann lands in jail where his wife extricates
him in the name of happy endings. Then, under Ulrich’s
sly instructions, she cuts off his wings and consigns
him back to his carpet slippers and the conjugal couch.
There is dance of every kind: classical, waltz, clownish
pantomime, spicy Hungarian dance, and a rousing French
Can-Can. The resulting mix of parisian spirit, Viennese
Charm, & Milanese elegance is simply irresistible.
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