Bill Irwin Makes Met Debut in Die Fledermaus, Dec. 19-Jan. 7

Tony Award-winning actor Bill Irwin will make his Metropolitan Opera debut in the speaking role of the comic jailer Frosch in Johann Straus' comedic operetta Die Fledermaus on Monday, December 19th. Irwin will step into the shoes previously occupied at the Met by such comedians as Sid Caesar and Dom DeLuise. The show runs through January 7th with a special performance on New Year's Eve.

Die Fledermaus, which is German for "The Bat," tells the story of exquisite revenge between good friends. Composed in 1874 by the Viennese "King of the Waltz", Die Fledermaus is the most popular and performed work of Johann Strauss.

Irwin's Broadway work includes Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (for which he received the 2005 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play), The Goat or Who Is Sylvia, Largely New York, Fool Moon, Waiting for Godot, Texts for Nothing, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, and 5-6-7-8 Dance. His film credits include Love Conquers All!, Igby Goes Down, The Laramie Project, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Popeye, among others.

In 1983, he was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Choreographer's Fellowship, and in 1984 was named a Guggenheim fellow and was awarded a five-year MacArthur Fellowship.  In 1997, Irwin directed and starred in his adaptation of the play Scapin at the Roundabout Theatre and in 1998 he directed A Flea in her Ear, also at the Roundabout.

In Die Fledermaus, Sondra Radvanovsky is Rosalinde, German soprano Marlis Petersen and Slovenian tenor Janez Lotrič make their debuts with the company as Adele and Alfred, Mariana Domashenko is Prince Orlofsky, Bo Skovhus is Eisenstein, and Earle Patriarco is Dr. Falke.

Tickets for performances are on sale at the Met Box Office, or may be purchased by telephone at (212) 362-6000, or by visiting the Met's Web site at www.metopera.org.