A military romp with the Edmonton Opera

Donizetti's

Daughter of the Regiment

This one's for the girls!

Edmonton Opera melts the mid-winter freeze with Gaetano Donizetti's military romp, Daughter of the Regiment, February 7, 10 and 12 at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. Tickets are on sale now at Ticketmaster, call 780-451-8000 or visit www.ticketmaster.ca. Daughter of the Regiment (or La fille du rˆ©giment) is sung in French, with English supertitles projected above the stage and English dialogue, so patrons won't have to be francophones to get in on the fun.

Marie, the adopted daughter of the 21^st Regiment in a 19^th century French army, loves being one of the boys. But when the Regiment is posted near a town in the Tyrolean Mountains, Marie falls head over heels for Tonio, one of the townsfolk. The Regiment declares Marie must marry into, not out of, the army, and Tonio rushes to join its ranks. Before he can even make his first salute, the Marquise of Birkenfeld appears, declaring she is Marie's aunt and intending to sweep Marie out of army life and into the lavish stuffiness of being a "lady." Can Marie gain a new family, snag the man she loves, and still keep her beloved regiment?

"This one celebrates the ladies," says Brian Deedrick, Edmonton Opera's Artistic Director. "It's a rare feat and a rare treat: an opera about a woman who finds love and life satisfaction while, quite literally, marching to the beat of her own drum. We're delighted to be bringing this laugh and a half back to the Jubilee Auditorium: the jokes will be rowdy, the story convoluted, and the singing spectacular. If ever there was a night to grab your girlfriends, pull on your best duds and head to the opera, this is it!"

The all-Canadian production is led by Director Robert Herriot and Conductor Peter Dala, the duo who led the Sterling Award-winning production of H.M.S. PINAFORE. They are joined by Andriana Chuchman as Marie, Colin Ainsworth as Tonio, Theodore Baerg as Sulpice, Sonya Gosse as the Marquise, and Chad Louwerse as Hortensio. Daughter of the Regiment also features the talents of the Edmonton Opera Chorus and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.

All performances of Daughter of the Regiment begin at 7:30pm and run at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. Two-show packages for Edmonton Opera's presentations of Daughter of the Regiment and La Traviata are available through the Edmonton Opera Box Office, call 780-429-1000 or visit www.edmontonopera.com. For single tickets, which range from $25 to $150, contact Ticketmaster at 780-451-8000 or visit www.ticketmaster.ca.