Celebrated comedy ‘Falstaff’ shown in Whitefish

Whitefish Theatre Company and the Whitefish Performing Arts Center are co-presenting the sixth live on-screen performance of the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD 2022-2023 season on Saturday, April 1.

Giuseppe Verdi’s glorious comedy “Falstaff” will be shown at 10:30 a.m. at the Whitefish Performing Arts Center. Approximate run time is 2 hours and 45 minutes, including one 30-minute intermission. Tickets are sold only at the door which will open at 10 a.m. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students, paid by cash or check only. Call 406-862-5371 to inquire about 10 student scholarships.

Sung in Italian with subtitles, Verdi’s “Falstaff” is among the greatest operatic comedies of all time. In Act 1, Sir John Falstaff, an old fat knight, sits in the Garter Inn scolding his ‘partners in crime’, Bardolfo and Pistola, for being inept thieves after trying to rob the house of Dr. Caius. Needing to settle a huge bill he has run up at the inn, Falstaff devises another plan to woo two wealthy matrons, Alice Ford and Meg Page, both “merry wives of Windsor,” to take advantage of their husbands' money. He writes two love letters and has them delivered by a page after his partners refuse to deliver them, proclaiming that it is not honorable to do such a thing. The letters arrive to Alice’s home where she, Meg, Mistress Quickly, and Alice’s daughter, Nannetta, laugh over the identical love notes. Ford, Alice’s husband, arrives followed by four men all offering advice: Dr. Caius, whom Ford favors as Nannetta’s future husband; Bardolph and Pistol, who are now seeking advantageous employment from Ford; and Fenton, who is in love with Nannetta. While Alice and Meg plan how to take revenge on their annoying suitor, a jealous Ford decides to disguise himself in order to pay a visit to Falstaff himself. Unnoticed in the midst of all the commotion, Nannetta and Fenton manage to steal a few precious moments together.

In Act 2, Mistress Quickly informs Falstaff that both Alice and Meg are madly in love with him. She explains that it will be easier to seduce Alice, since her husband is out of the house every afternoon. After she leaves, Ford arrives to implement his scheme, introducing himself as Mr. Brook and confiding to Falstaff his failed attempts to woo Alice. He offers to pay Falstaff to seduce Alice under the premise that if she were to be seduced by the more experienced Falstaff, she might then be more likely to fall a second time and accept Mr. Brook. Falstaff agrees to the plan, telling his surprised new friend that he already has a rendezvous with Alice that very afternoon. As Falstaff dresses for the tryst, Ford gives way to jealous rage and resolves to ambush Alice and Falstaff. In the meantime, Mistress Quickly, Alice and Meg are preparing for Falstaff’s visit. Nannetta tearfully tells her mother that her father insists on her marrying Dr. Caius, but Alice tells her daughter not to worry. Alice is left alone to receive Falstaff, who declares his passion for her. As Falstaff becomes more amorous, Meg interrupts as planned, to announce, in jest, that Ford is approaching. However, it quickly becomes apparent that the jealous Ford really is approaching with a group of townsfolk and the women must hide a terrified Falstaff in a large laundry basket. Hearing the sound of kissing, Ford is convinced that he has found his wife and her lover Falstaff together, but is furious to discover Nannetta and Fenton instead. To general hilarity, Alice orders the servants to dump the laundry basket into the River Thames.

Finally, in Act 3, a drenched Falstaff consoles himself with wine. Mistress Quickly arrives with a new scheming proposition: Alice will meet Falstaff in Windsor Park at midnight but he must be disguised as the Black Huntsman. When Falstaff leaves, Alice enters to plan the midnight masquerade that will continue Falstaff’s punishment, assigning disguises to all. Ford secretly tells Dr. Caius to dress as a monk and that he will marry him to Nannetta that evening, a plan that Mistress Quickly overhears. Hours later in the park, Fenton meets Nannetta, who is disguised as the Queen of Fairies. Tipped off from Mistress Quickly, Alice enters with a monk’s habit for Fenton to wear. At midnight, Falstaff and Alice meet, although she suddenly runs away, saying that she hears spirits approaching. The disguised Nannetta and her ensemble of masked supernatural creatures arrive and torment Falstaff, demanding that he repent. When Falstaff recognizes Bardolph, everyone unmasks except a veiled couple who step up to be married. Alice presents a second couple to be wed and Ford performs the double wedding. When the brides remove their veils, it is revealed that Ford has just married Fenton to Nannetta and Dr. Caius to Bardolph. With everyone now laughing at his expense, Ford has no choice but to forgive the lovers and bless their marriage. Before sitting down to a wedding supper, the entire company agrees that the whole world may be nothing but a jest filled with jesters, but he who laughs last, laughs best.

Baritone Michael Volle sings his first Verdi role at the Met as the caddish knight Falstaff. As the clever women who deliver his comeuppance, soprano Ailyn Perez sings the role of Alice Ford, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano sings the role of Meg Page, and contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux sings the role of Mistress Quickly. Soprano Hera Hyesang Park and tenor Bogdan Volkov are the young couple Nannetta and Fenton, while Christopher Maltman sings the role of Ford. Director Robert Carsen’s celebrated staging is blended brilliantly with Maestro Daniele Rustioni’s keen insight on Verdi’s well-crafted score.

Food and beverage will be available for purchase during the performance. This opera is the sixth of 10 Metropolitan Opera Live in HD performances offered from November 2022 to June 2023. Four operas are being shown at the O’Shaughnessy Center and six operas are being shown at the Whitefish Performing Arts Center. Visit www.whitefishtheatreco.org to read about the entire Met Opera Live in HD season or call 406-862-5371 for more information.