Movie Night: Gender-Bending Strauss Opera

A tale surrounds Der Rosenkavalier, the Richard Strauss opera, according to Henry Simon's 100 Great Operas and their stories. Many years after it was first produced in 1911, the aging composer for the first time conducted one of his own performances.

During the last act of Der Rosenkavalier, Strauss leaned over to his first fiddle and whispered "Isn't his awfully long?"

To which the musician replied, "Why, maestro, you composed it yourself."

"I knowm" Strauss said remorsefully, "but I never though I'd have to conduct it myself."

An unedited version of the opera is nearly 4 hours long, but it's still a comedy well worth watching.

The opera comes to the Lark Theater on Saturday at 10 a.m. as part of the continuing Met Opera simulcast series.

Strauss’s comic masterpiece of love and intrigue in 18th-century Vienna stars Renée Fleming as the aristocratic Marschallin and Susan Graham in the role of her young lover, a man disguised as a woman.

Here's a look at what's showing in local movie theaters this weekend:

Lark Theater

Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: 5:15 p.m.

Brave: 3 p.m., 8 p.m.

Der Rosenkavalier: 10 a.m. Saturday

Century Cinema Corte Madera

The Dark Knight Rises: 11:30 a.m., 3:10 p.m., 7 p.m., 10:35 p.m.

Century Larkspur Landing

The Watch: (Saturday and Sunday 12:15 p.m., 2:45 p.m.), 5:20 p.m., 8 p.m., 10:30 p.m.

Ice Age, Continental Drift 3D: (Saturday and Sunday 2:25 p.m., 4:45 p.m.), 7:15 p.m., 9:40 p.m.

Ice Age, Continental Drift (Saturday and Sunday): 11:30 a.m.

Magic Mike: (Saturday and Sunday 12 p.m., 2:35 p.m.), 5:15 p.m., 7:50 p.m., 10:25 p.m.

Ted: (Saturday and Sunday11:45 a.m., 2:15 p.m.), 5 p.m., 7:35 p.m., 10:15 p.m.

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