SYNOPSIS

 Act I

It is 1805 and the forces of Napoleon are invading the Austrian Tyrol. The war has forced the Marquise of Berkenfeld, making her way home, to stop outside a village at the foot of the mountains. Villagers watching the progress of the French army pray for protection. When a peasant observes that the troops appear to be retreating, there is general rejoicing among the villagers. At that moment, the French Sergeant Sulpice appears, to the terror of the villagers and the Marquise who rush off to hide. Sulpice is followed by Marie, a canteen girl and orphan, who has been adopted by the 21st Regiment. Following a spirited and patriotic duet, Sulpice quizzes Marie about reports that she has been seeing a young Tyrolean peasant. Marie replies that this is true and that the young man concerned rescued her from falling off a cliff. Their conversation is cut short by the arrival of the regiment with a prisoner who has been seen lurking around the camp. Marie recognizes the prisoner as Tonio, the young Tyrolean peasant, and recounts to the soldiers how he saved her life. The soldiers immediately welcome Tonio as a friend, and Marie entertains them by singing the regimental song. The regiment soon departs, leaving Tonio and Marie alone where they finally confess their love for one another. Shortly thereafter, the Marquise comes out of hiding and approaches Sulpice to ask him to ensure her safety on her journey home. In the course of their conversation, Sulpice makes the connection between the Marquise's name and the regiment's Captain Robert who was killed many years ago. The Marquise informs him that Captain Robert had married her sister, and that their young daughter had been lost shortly after Captain Robert had been killed in battle. Sulpice now realizes that the lost child is none other than Marie, and proceeds to introduce the girl to her newly found "aunt." In the meantime, Tonio has enlisted in the army to be near Marie and persuades the regiment, her adopted fathers, to consent to their marriage. Tonio is overjoyed, but the mood soon turns to despair as Sulpice announces that Marie must leave to live with her newly found aunt. Marie bids a tearful farewell to the Tonio and the soldiers, as the Marquise arrives and drags Marie away amidst great protests from all of the ensemble as the act comes to a close.

ACT II

The Marquise is delighted that she has arranged a match for Marie with the illustrious Duke of Krackenthorp. While Marie goes through the rigors of her dancing lesson, the Marquise welcomes Sulpice whom she hopes can encourage Marie to be a little more enthusiastic about the proposed marriage. In addition to her dancing lessons, the Marquise has instructed Marie in singing in hopes of impressing the Duchess, mother of the Duke, who has heard that Marie is not well educated. The Marquise wants Marie to try out her song for Sulpice as a preview of the evening's entertainment. Neither Marie nor Sulpice show much enthusiasm for the sentimental love song, and behave quite badly during the voice lesson, giggling uncontrollably and finally bursting into strains of their old regimental song. The poor Marquise is exhausted by the ordeal, especially on the very day that she has invited all of the best families in the area to attend the signing of the marriage contract. When the Marquise and Sulpice leave the room, Marie is left alone to express her true feelings of sadness and loneliness. Suddenly, to Marie's delight, all of her old comrades in arms appear with Tonio among them, who is now an officer. After a happy reunion of Marie, Tonio, and Sulpice, Tonio approaches the Marquise to tell her of his love for Marie and asks for her hand in marriage. The Marquise severely tells him that Marie is already engaged to be married and that he must leave the premises immediately. Tonio complies, but vows that he will return. The Marquise is now fearful that her well-laid plans for her niece's future might be endangered, and confesses to Sulpice a secret that she has harbored for many years. She relates that her aristocratic family, considering no match good enough for her, had kept her single until the age of thirty. For some time she had been acquainted with Captain Robert, a dashing French army officer, with whom she fell in love and they subsequently eloped to Geneva. Before they could marry, however, the Captain was ordered off again to the wars, leaving the Marquise pregnant with his child. After giving birth to a daughter in secret, the Marquise returned to the Berkenfeld Chateau to await the Captain's return. The Captain was killed in battle, as was the faithful servant into whose care the child had been placed, and all trace of the child was lost. The child in question being none other than Marie. With this confession, the Marquise gains Sulpice's confidence in the hopes that the arranged marriage with the Duke of Krackenthorp will secure Marie's fortune, as the Marquise could not otherwise acknowledge her without ruining both of their reputations. The Duke of Krackenthorp and his mother, the Duchess, arrive with several other guests for the signing of the marriage contract. Marie, who has learned from Sulpice that the Marquise is actually her own mother, resolves to go through with the marriage for her mother's sake. At that moment, Tonio leads in the regiment to stop the proceedings. He tells everyone about Marie's upbringing by the Regiment and how she has served as their canteen girl. The guests are shocked at the revelation, but when Marie fills out the story, they begin to understand and sympathize with her. Marie still feels duty bound to make her mother happy and sadly tells Tonio that she must go through with the marriage.  Seeing Marie's sadness, the Marquise goes through a change of heart and announces to the scandalized guests that Marie is in fact her own daughter and shall marry the man she loves, Tonio. The Duchess and Duke depart in a huff, while everyone else joins in a final chorus of rejoicing in praise of the triumph of true love.

This production of "The Daughter of the Regiment" is dedicated to the memory of our beloved and dear friend Doreen Saferstein, who passed away on December 3, 2021. Doreen and her husband, Harold, founded and sponsored the Music Theatre and Opera K-12 school engagement program (formerly known as The Lyric Opera Theatre Outreach Program or LOOP) in 2003, in order to introduce and foster an interest in opera and music theatre for Phoenix area elementary school, middle school, and high school students. Since its inception, this program has fulfilled its mission for almost 20 years, introducing thousands of students to music theatre and opera. For many of these students, this was their first experience attending a live performance of an opera or a musical. The program truly has come full circle, as many of these students eventually decided to attend ASU to major in music theatre and opera, several of whom are now pursuing professional performing careers.

Both Doreen and Harold have had a lifelong love and appreciation for the arts, and felt it was both their mission and their honor to share their love of music theatre and opera with others. Following one of our productions, Doreen commented, “We're crossover enthusiasts in that we love opera as well as musical theatre. So, I'd like to borrow from Julie Andrews when she sings, "I could have danced all night and still have begged for more."  The performance left us wanting to stay longer to enjoy more. The audience applause still lingers in our ears.”

We can never thank Doreen and Harold enough for the many gifts of inspiration that their generosity has provided to our MTO students, as well as to thousands of students throughout the Metropolitan Phoenix area. Doreen will be greatly missed by us all.

The Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts acknowledges the twenty-two Native Nations that have inhabited this land for centuries. Arizona State University’s four campuses are located in the Salt River Valley on ancestral territories of Indigenous peoples, including the Akimel O’odham (Pima) and Pee Posh (Maricopa) Indian Communities, whose care and keeping of these lands allows us to be here today.

The Music Theatre and Opera program in the School of Music at Arizona State University’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts is committed to preparing outstanding music theatre and opera artists for professional careers in the 21st century. Through expert individual and classroom instruction, the production of operas and musicals, student-led workshops, new work development, research opportunities, dynamic community engagement and multiple professional collaborations, we foster a creative, student-centered environment that enables students to discover who they are as individuals and artists, at their own pace, in their own unique way, at the highest level.

LYRIC OPERA THEATRE GUILD

Since its founding in 1972, the Lyric Opera Theatre Guild has supported the students of the Music Theatre and Opera program with emergency grants and events. Reasonably priced memberships allow the music-loving community to further our cause. Dues and donations are tax deductible. Special rates available for ASU alumni! For more information please contact Jim Lunseth at 480-893-1792 or Barbara Daniel at 602-390-2490 or e-mail the Guild at azlotguild@yahoo.com.

FACULTY

Brian DeMaris, Artistic Director
Michelle Chin, Musical Theatre
Dale Dreyfoos, Opera Coordinator
Molly Lajoie, Musical Theatre Dance
Robert Mills, Vocal Coach
Jodie Weiss, Musical Theatre Acting
Toby Yatso, Musical Theatre Coordinator

STAFF

Linda Bennett - Program Coordinator
Jeff Dublinske - Sound Coordinator
Sharon Jones - Costume Shop Coordinator, Hair and Makeup
Kate Leonard - Production Stage Manager
Gerald Willow - Technical Director, Master Electrician

STUDENT ASSISTANTS

Jena Allen - Office Assistant
Andrew Chen - Graduate Assistant
Lindsey Noel Miller - Graduate Assistant
Zach Salsburg-Frank
Mario Yniguez (Faculty Associate, Popular Music)

VOICE FACULTY

Amanda DeMaris
Carole FitzPatrick
Gordon Hawkins
Nathan De’Shon Myers
Stephanie Weiss
Andrea Pitman Will