The grand ball of the eccentric Russian Prince Orlovsky is the place to be for Vienna’s hoi polloi —- so much so that Herr Eisenstein accepts his friend Dr. Falke’s invitation to stop by for a last hurrah before he is forced to report to jail. Little does our hero know that Falke has put an elaborate practical joke in to play, in revenge for a prank Eisenstein once played on him. At the party are Eisenstein’s wife, Rosalinda, his parlor maid, Adele, her sister, the opera dancer Sally, and Frank, the governor of the jail to which he is to report. Everyone is in disguise, pretending to be someone they’re not as they revel under the Prince’s command - “Chacun a son gout!” or “To each his own!”!
