The Merry Widow is a lighthearted tale about a free-spirited beauty searching for true love.

It's not the new chick flick nor the latest WB-style dramedy.

The Merry Widow is an opera, minus the subtitles, irrelevant themes, and, without a doubt, the fat lady donning a horned Viking hat.

‘The Merry Widow’ Time: 8 p.m. Date: Today Place: Eisenhower Auditorium

Almost a century after its 1905 Vienna premiere, Franz Lehár's The Merry Widow is still spreading its story of passion and humor to audiences worldwide.

At 8 p.m. today at Eisenhower Auditorium, the London City Opera will present a rendition of The Merry Widow, an operetta that performer Alycia Fashae said "encapsulated the spirit of the age."

Whereas operas tend to be intensely dramatic and entirely sung, operettas like The Merry Widow are comical, often featuring spoken dialogue and dancing.

"The Merry Widow is an opera, so there's humor in it, which makes it more accessible to students," said Laura Sullivan, head of public relations for the Center for the Performing Arts.

Fashae performs the title role of Hanna Glawari, the young widow who is the wealthiest woman hailing from the tiny country of Pentevedro. While in Paris, she receives much admiration from money-hungry suitors, which inspires panic in the Pontevedrian ambassador.

To ensure that Hanna will marry a Pontevedrian, thus preserving the nation's wealth, the ambassador schemes to marry her off to a former lover, Count Danilo Danilovich, whom Hanna still secretly loves.

An extramarital affair involving the ambassador's wife creates the subplot.

Fashae said that The Merry Widow was typical for its time, but because of the "naughty goings on," was quite risqué as well.

"There's a lot of sexual innuendo, which made people giggle behind their fans," she chuckled.

Fashae said that the operetta portrays comedic and relevant themes that are still of interest to modern audiences.

Besides the ubiquitous theme of love, which seems to be present in every opera, The Merry Widow depicts a unique focus — feminism.

"The opera is about how intelligent women are able to manipulate men," Fashae said. "The feminist movement started around the turn of the century when the opera was written. Art reflects society."

Fashae said that Hanna reflected the essence of the new feminism.

"When her husband died, she became empowered, independent, alone and exceptionally wealthy," Fashae said. "She became free to seek the love of her life. Hanna was a free spirit who could search for her own satisfaction."

Fashae said that just as The Merry Widow has stayed fresh, so has opera as an art.

"Opera is a growing art form in Britain," she said. "It combines all arts — fine arts of the sets, music, symphony, song. It's the supreme unification of arts in all respects."

While Fashae said "there is often a language barrier" involved with opera, no language barrier exists in The Merry Widow.

"It was written in German but translated into English," she explained.

Sullivan commented that students will understand the opera better because it is in English, and added that will be supertitled if they want to read along.

"Everyone likes to laugh. It's a funny piece of entertainment," Fashae said, rationalizing the continuing popularity of The Merry Widow. "But mostly it's the music."

During her nights off, while watching the performance from the audience, Fashae noticed that "when the audience comes out, they're singing parts of the opera. There are very memorable songs and tunes. They're classics."

Fashae spends most of her time on stage though, as the London City Opera is undertaking a three-and-a-half-month tour of America.

"We travel during the day and do shows each evening," Fashae said. "There are difficulties to overcome with each theater."

One technical problem that Fashae playfully recalled occurred during her moment-to-shine aria.

"The lights completely blacked out!" she proclaimed.

"Someone flicked one switch thinking that it did one thing and it did another," Fashae said. "You can't stop singing until someone tells you to stop, but I was thinking, oh my god, what's going on?"

The lights returned a second later and the rest of the performance went smoothly.

Fashae added, "That's what keeps it stimulating and exciting. We have to think on our feet, so performances never get boring. It's like a new performance every night."

Tickets for The Merry Widow are available at the HUB Information Desk's Arts Ticket Center outlet or by phone at 863-0255. Section one and two prices are $39 and $29 for the general public, $24 and $16 for University Park students, and $12 and $8 for children 12 and under.

"It's definitely a good chance for affordable tickets and for students to get into opera," said Sullivan.

University Park students interested in attending The Merry Widow for a reduced price can stop by the HUB Information Desk's Arts Ticket Center outlet and pick up a coupon to purchase tickets for $14 each, for section one, or $8 each, for section two.