Joke’s on ‘Merry Wives’

‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’
Where: Musical Arts Center
When: 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday,  Oct. 31 and Nov. 1
Extras: Opera Insights at 7 p.m. on the mezzanine level


Erik Anstine, graduate student
Role: Sir John Falstaff

Indiana Daily Student: Describe your interpretation of your character, Falstaff.
Anstine: Falstaff is all about drinking, eating and chasing women. He spends all of his money on that and is poor as a result. He writes love letters to two women basically asking them to cheat on their husbands with him, which he believes they will, obviously because he is so irresistible.

I am trying to play him as a bragger. He thinks he is God’s gift to women, when really he is an old, fat, dirt-poor knight. He falls flat on his face, sometimes literally.

IDS: What parts of this opera do you look forward to, and which do you think the audience like best?
Anstine: I like the Act II duet and scene where Frau Fluth and Frau Reich put me in a dress. It’s a fat man in a dress; it’s inherently funny. I also like the Act III ballets where I mostly just jump around.

It depends audience to audience. The Falstaff stuff is hilarious, especially the parts when I fall or roll around. Also the Reich’s daughter Anne has these three suitors, which are Fenton, who she loves, Doctor Caius, who has a funny French accent, and Junker Sparlich, who is timid and a little off. They play well off of each other, and in the end, there is some mistaken identity, which is pretty funny.


Thomas Florio, graduate student
Role: Sir John Falstaff

IDS: Describe your interpretation of your character, Falstaff.
Florio: Falstaff is very full of himself, metaphorically and physically. He is a huge man. ... Erik Anstine and I are both young, slight men in a situation where we play a man who is large and old, but fancies himself a young, handsome man. In that sense, we are more agilely playing the man Falstaff believes he is, rather than the man he actually is.

IDS: What about this role has been difficult?
Florio: I would say the buffo style of singing, which requires you to move your voice very quickly, but with sufficient sound and support to project over the orchestra.


Erin Houghton, graduate student
Role: Frau Reich

IDS: Describe your interpretation of your character, Frau Reich.
Houghton: Frau Reich is a well-to-do wife, living in Windsor. She is middle-aged, funky and smart about getting back at Falstaff. She is good friends with her neighbor Frau Fluth, and the other characters often describe her as sharp-tongued and sassy.

IDS: What is your opinion of Vince Liotta’s stage direction?
Houghton: He is especially great at this kind of comedy. I have learned how big everything has to be for comedy from Vince. The stage is so big, the set is so big and the auditorium is so big that every move and sound you make has to be bigger.

IDS: How do you think having English dialogue and German arias will affect the overall reception of the opera?
Houghton: At first, I wasn’t sure of how it was going to go. I thought it might be a little jarring, but when you watch it, your mind switches over really easily between the two. I actually think it is great to have English dialogue because the audience can understand the jokes more immediately than if they had to look up to read the supertitles.


Caitlin Shirley, graduate student
Role: Anne Reich

IDS: Describe your interpretation of your character, Anne.
Shirley: She is a young girl who is being pursued by three different men, one of which she is in love with. To be with him, she must go against her parents’  (Herr and Frau Reich) will.

What is really fun about this, for me, is that my real husband (Daniel Shirley) is playing the man Anne marries, Fenton.

IDS: What has it been like working with your husband?
Shirley: It has been wonderful. We have always wanted to work together. My favorite scene is the one where we get married. ... My husband and I only got married two months ago, so it is still new and will be exciting to bring that same feeling on stage.


Heather Youngquist, graduate student
Role: Frau Fluth

IDS: Describe your interpretation of your character, Frau Fluth.
Youngquist: Both Frau Fluth and Frau Reich are crafty. The whole thing is about getting back at Falstaff. They really show that they are not to be underestimated. 

IDS: What is your opinion of conductor David Effron’s musical direction?
Youngquist: Maestro Effron was actually able to step in for a conductor who fell ill. He was working on “La Traviata” before this, so he was very busy. It has been a whirlwind of rehearsals. He has lots of experience with this show, and he said to us once in rehearsal, ‘You know what? You all need to have more fun.’ It is really a fun work, and he has the right take on it all.