Florentine Opera's 'Merry Widow' musically elegant, comically satisfying

At the Marcus Center Friday, the battle of the sexes was fought in triple meter to a happy tie.

The Florentine Opera's production of "The Merry Widow" combines the elegance of opera with the goofy vigor of a sitcom in a satisfying and diverting way.

Franz Lehár's operetta, which premiered in 1905, is built around that ultra-sexy dance of its time, the waltz. Conductor Joseph Rescigno led the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra in a graceful performance that would have tempted even the wallflowers to get down. The Florentine also enlisted members of the Milwaukee Ballet for several dance scenes, choreographed by Petr Zahradníček, including some crisply balletic ersatz folk dancing.

In Paris, Baron Zeta (Jamie Offenbach), ambassador from the tiny fake country of Pontevedro, frets that wealthy widow Hanna Glawari (Alyson Cambridge) will remarry to a Frenchman, and that Pontevedro will lose her wealth, which has been propping it up. He orders Count Danilo (Corey McKern) to marry her. But Danilo and Hanna have a brokenhearted history, and complications ensue, including a pack of French suitors attracted to Hanna's money rather than her beauty and charm.

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Soprano Cambridge, a star who's headed to Broadway in the near future, sings authoritatively and, despite her character's plebeian standing, brings a regal presence to the role. She also has a radiant smile, which she allows to gently spread across her face when Hanna softens toward Danilo.

The baritone McKern brings forthright character to both his singing and acting. Often he's the necessary straight man to the goofballs here. In the comic role of the ambassador's aide, tenor Rodell Rosel plays Radar O'Reilly to Offenbach's Henry Blake, a put-upon comic foil but also the guy who makes things work; his show-stopping song with the grisettes of Maxim's justly earned big applause.

Speaking of comedy, director William Florescu must have had fun staging the line dance of seven men that also brought down the house. 

Soprano Stacy Dove makes a memorable Florentine debut as Baron Zeta's young wife, embroiled in an intrigue of her own. Her musical and theatrical expressiveness must make everyone hope she'll be back.

The Florentine Opera repeats "The Merry Widow" at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the Marcus Center's Uihlein Hall, 929 N. Water St. For ticket info, visit florentineopera.org. 

Cambridge also plays a leading role in "The Arts Bridge Project: A Century of Song" at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 27 at the Marcus Center. It's a collaborative concert staged by the Marcus Center, the Florentine and the Milwaukee Ballet. Visit marcuscenter.org.