“Die Fledermaus” will be staged at Merrill Auditorium Feb. 2.

PORTLAND -PCA Great Performances will present the Czech Opera Prague production of Johann Strauss’ hilarious operetta, “Die Fledermaus,” Thursday, Feb. 2, in Merrill Auditorium.

The three-act performance will be sung in its original German with English supertitles. Soloists of the Prague State Opera will be featured in principal roles accompanied by the 47-piece Sofia Symphony Orchestra and a chorus of 40 singers and dancers from Bulgaria’s Ballet Arabesk. The stage will be filled with beautiful sets and costumes, in the tradition of Prague opera.

Currently in its American debut tour, Czech Opera Prague collaborates with the brightest opera stars on Prague’s leading stages today, including the Prague State Opera and the Prague National Theatre. Artistic Director/Stage Director Martin Otava is one of the most prominent directors of opera in the Czech Republic and has had a permanent engagement as stage director at the Prague State Opera since 1991.

Set in Vienna in 1890, “Die Fledermaus” is a story of lighthearted, delicious mischief that happens at a masquerade ball when a husband flirts with a woman, without realizing she is his own wife. Johann Strauss’ famous score is filled with wonderful waltzes and polkas.

“Die Fledermaus” will be presented at 7:30 p.m.

There will be a free pre-curtain lecture with University of Southern Maine School of Music professor Ellen Chickering backstage in the Rehearsal Hall at 6 p.m.

Merrill Auditorium is in Portland’s City Hall; the auditorium’s entrance is at 20 Myrtle St.

Tickets, $38, $46 and $53, are available through PortTix, the box office at Merrill Auditorium. Senior, student and group discounts are available. For tickets, call PortTix at (207) 842-0800.