TV REVIEWS : PBS TO TELEVISE PAGE’S ‘DIE FLEDERMAUS’ BALLET

A nearly all-star cast dancing in an all-but-extinct ballet bouffe style makes Ruth Page’s “Die Fledermaus” a highly intriguing holiday diversion tonight on PBS (Channels 28 and 15 at 8, Channels 50 and 24 at 9).

Unlike Roland Petit, who made a ballet from Johann Strauss’ comic opera emphasizing the constraints and fantasies of marriage--a husband’s desire for free flight, a wife’s to clip his wings--Page sees “Die Fledermaus” as, in her words, “delightfully silly.” Thus her one-act 1961 ballet is a comedy of disguise, with every scene focusing on changes of apparel.

Page’s choreographic style links elements of the witty Leonide Massine/Ballets Russes tradition to flamboyant Bolshoi-esque virtuosity. Everybody does nonstop bravura step-combinations and the story is largely superimposed on the dancing through pantomime.

Against gleaming, largely monochromatic scenic paintings by Andre Delfau (Page’s husband), the cast dances with a degree of conviction and charm light-years beyond Page’s studio-taped “Merry Widow” three years ago.

In particular, Marianna Tcherkassky of American Ballet Theatre makes an adorable Adele, mincing on pointe and toying with a feather boa as if born to soubrette roles.

Opposite her, Danilo Radojevic (a Ballet Theatre principal when “Die Fledermaus” was taped but no longer on the company roster) is exceptionally fleet, buoyant and charming as the butler Otto, a character not in the original opera.

Technical razzle-dazzle more forceful and sharp-edged comes from Richard Cragun (California’s gift to the Stuttgart Ballet) as the philandering Eisenstein--a performance of mesmerizing power, control and sensuality.

Galina Panova’s portrayal of Rosalinda is more problematic: ravishing in repose but only fitfully persuasive in the character-dance challenges. Her big masquerade solo ought to be mock -Hungarian: a pseudo-Petipa caprice not unlike the Ballets Trockadero lampoon of “Raymonda.” However, Panova can’t seem to parody the hallmarks of her Kirov heritage consistently enough to bring the steps alive.

Valery Panov also has moments when his customary dance-attack (gutsy) seems unsuited to his character (the devious Falke), but Panov triumphs through sheer authority, and it is crucial to have such a major dance-personality play this key role in the ballet.

Taped in the Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet (about 50 miles from Page’s home base in Chicago), the TV “Fledermaus” boasts sumptuous playing of the rearranged Strauss score by members of the Chicago Symphony and Lyric Opera orchestras conducted by George Daugherty.

Director Dick Carter may point his cameras at the ornate theater ceiling too often--and switch camera angles too frequently in what should be unbroken dance passages--but he catches the excitement of live performance in a way that many of PBS’ opera-house projects have utterly missed.