ŠILALES MUSICAL THEATRE Franz Lehár Die lustige Witwe
Three-act, two-part operetta in two acts, libretto by Viktor Léon and Leo Stein
Lithuanian text by Ramutė Skučaitė
A feast is held at the embassy of the bankrupt Duchy of Pontevedra in Paris to celebrate the birthday of the dictator, the Duke. The main focus of the feast is Hana Glavari, the widow of Pontevedra, who inherited 20 billion from her banker husband. Hana Glavari is a woman with a fiery temper who intends to remarry. Officials at the Pontevedra Embassy are worried that the widow's billions are being "leaked" to another country, threatening to bankrupt their principality. The politicians agree that this cannot be allowed to happen and find Hannah's future husband, Count Danilo, the secretary of the embassy in Paris. It turns out that the Count and the widow had once been acquaintances. What's more, they were lovers until Danila's uncle opposed the marriage, because Hana was just a simple girl with no money, no pedigree and no prospects. Having parted ways in a less than pleasant way, Hana and Danila are now more interested in showing off their ambitions than in rekindling their once fiery feelings. Against the backdrop of Paris, a veritable fiesta of intrigue, misunderstandings, failures and comedy brews. In the end, after a series of quarrels, the failure of plans and the creation of new ones, everything falls into place, love triumphs and the principality of Pontevedra is spared the ignominy of disappearing from the map. Since its premiere in Vienna in 1905, Lehar's operetta The Merry Widow has become one of the most successful and frequently staged operettas of all time. Leave your worries behind and come along, but don't take the world of operetta too seriously!
ACTORS: Hana Glavari, widow SONETA BŪDVYTIENĖ Count Danila, Secretary of the Pontevedra Embassy ANDREW APŠEGA Baron Minka Cėta, Pontevedra's envoy in Paris VIRGINIA NOREIKA Valenciana, his wife EDITA MERKELIENĖ Camille de Rosillon ŽILVINAS JANKUS Njegušas, clerk of the Pontevedra envoy ALGIRDAS ŠAULYS Viscount Cascada ALVYDAS RUDYS Raul de San Brijoš MANTAS TOLEIKIS Bogdanovič, Consul of Pontevedro PAULIUS SKURDELIS Silvijana, his wife ILONA RAUDONIENĖ Kromovas, Counsellor of the Pontevedro Embassy RAIMUNDAS GEDVILAS Olga, his wife ASTA NOREIKIENĖ Pričič, MANTAS SAVICKAS Praskovja, Colonel of the Pontevedra Diocese, his wife JOLANTA KAŽUKAUSKIENĖ Grizettes, Parisians, Pontevedrians ŠILALĖS KRAŠTO MŠRUS CHORUS "MEDVĖGALIS" (dir. Sandra Rimkutė-Jankuvienė), ANSAMBLIS "AUŠRINĖ" (leader Laima Petkuvienė), DANCE COLLECTIVE "MAINYTINIS" (leader Laima Petkuvienė), DANCE COLLECTIVE "MAINYTINIS" (leader Sandra Rimkutė-Jankuvienė). Laima Andrejauskienė)
Director ANTANAS KAZLAUSKAS Choreographer LAIMA ANDREJAUSKIENĖ Designer VIDMANTAS DARGIS Sound designers: DAIVA KAUNIENĖ, LIVIJA VALAUSKYTĖ, AUDRONĖ STEPONAVIČIENĖ Scenery designer ALFONSAS MAULIUS Stage technicians: TOMAS BUDRECKAS, VIDAS UNDARAVIČIUS, ZIGMAS GRIGALIS, KAZYS PALIAKAS
