Another good review for Die Fledermaus, or The Bat Bites Back, this one on CultureVulture:

Strauss’ tale of fin de siècle decadence and (mild) debauchery among Vienna’s upper (and not-so-upper) classes comes through loud and clear and quite amusing, thanks to a splendid new translation by David Scott Marley. Having recently suffered through (via radio broadcast) the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of the same work with its long stretches of dialogue and not-so-funny jokes, I doubly appreciated Marley’s wit, economy and way with words.

After the opening weekend in Walnut Creek, the stage director and I trimmed five or six minutes of spoken dialogue, at least half of it from the first half of the first act. It was mostly a matter of cutting a line here and a couple lines there wherever it felt like we were continuing to make a point longer than was needed. The trimmed version played in Napa last weekend, and worked wonderfully; the first act zips along with more energy, and the later acts, though trimmed much less, benefit all the same from the greater momentum. It’s a really terrific show.

We play two performances this weekend at the Bankhead Theater in Livermore. The following weekend we play two performances in Mountain View, and the weekend after that four performances in San Francisco.