News > Concerts + Events
Back to News Browse
Concerts + Events

Director's diary: Paul Curran, on rehearsing "Eugene Onegin" and working with a young cast

Paul Curran

Acclaimed stage director Paul Curran will lead the Yale Opera this month in a new production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. Curran has been sharing his thoughts about the rehearsal process and about working with the Yale Opera cast. 

Diary Entry No. 2: Thursday, January 31—Studio rehearsals are drawing to a close this week, then we transfer to the theater to meet a whole new set of challenges and joys. This week is a critical one for the cast. Finding your character, dealing with your voice, and rehearsing most of the day are all part and parcel of the opera business. There's nothing unusual in that. When you're in school, however, it makes every waking minute all the more vital and concentrated. I admire enormously the singers' ability to go to their classes and then come to rehearsals and keep such focus.

So, what has been going on this week? Lots. Seriously—major steps forward for many people in many ways. Pacing always poses big questions. Do I sing out here? Do I save my voice? Not easy questions to answer.

In all my years directing opera, I've noticed that singers tend to do the same thing: they explore the limits in rehearsal—especially of a new role—so they know their vocal/emotional/stamina limits and can adjust accordingly when it comes to bigger orchestra rehearsals and performances. Not everything can be at 100 percent all day. This has been one of this week's learning curves. In the process of exploring this piece, I've used a few of my teaching techniques to help some singers where they've had difficulties. Long pages of singing in Russian can be daunting to even the most seasoned singer.

I often ask everybody to "speak out" their "inner voice"—in other words, all the bits a character is thinking when not actually singing. It's a way of keeping the brain and the "moment" alive and helps your colleagues know where your mind is. Another great game is "jumpy game"—you make a jump before every single thought. Not every word or phrase; every actual thought as you're singing. The purpose is to activate your singing and acting—and it really does! It seems to have been a revelation for some cast members. Of course, being a game, it feels very silly and a bit embarrassing when you do it the first time. But when inhibitions fall away, you leave so much more room for creation and invention.

I've loved watching the process. Rebecca Welles, our costume designer, has also been around doing costume fittings, so everybody slowly but surely is getting to know the world they're about to inhabit.

Equally important have been our production meetings, where all the sectors of the show gather to discuss progress, problems, solutions, or to just say, "All's well" … or not. Such meetings are never easy to schedule, given everybody's busy schedules, but, thanks to technology, we've managed to have people there in person, on Skype, on FaceTime, and on the phone. I love technology!

By the end of the week we will have run the entire opera twice—each cast gets a full studio run. That'll be the last time they run the show until the orchestra joins us in the theater—so, hugely important to judge stamina and pacing. During the week I've managed to sneak in quite a few runs of acts and big scenes, so I think everybody's a little more prepared.

The end of the week has brought a big freeze to the United States and we're in below-zero temperatures. I hope people stay warm and protected and that the weather doesn't bring a surge of illness with it. I grew up in Scotland and lived in Finland and Norway, so the weather's no big deal for this wee Scotsman!

The show opens on February 15. Buy a ticket and come see it. You never know which star in the making you're seeing right at the start of their career, and you never know how much you might fall in love with this beautiful, poetic piece.

Diary Entry No. 1: Tuesday, January 29—We've been rehearsing Eugene Onegin now for about two weeks and finally got to the final scene. It's been quite a monumental and challenging journey for all concerned. Me included.

Just like a play, an opera takes a long time to rehearse, but, unlike a play, the rhythm and pace of the show is set already by the writer—it's in the music. So a lot of our rehearsals have been about finding that pace and speed and about how our young singers can add their own interpretation to it, rather than just slavishly reproducing the exact note values on the page.

Rehearsal is a lot of repetition … and a lot of getting it wrong. This is the bit where I turn into the "senior" of the show and talk about me and the Millennials. Because I have to say: Getting it wrong is actually OK! The whole process is one of trying and trying again 'til something works or feels right. An "instant" result is almost impossible. We've had a few hilarious moments along the way and often not in the expected places. Who knew a tiny line by the Nanny could tell us so much about her teenage marriage, loss of virginity, and sadness at the loss of her husband? It's all in there, if you know where to look.

We also met the chorus last week and started working on their none-too-small part in this big opera. We don’t have dancers, so our brave chorus is having to dance a peasant dance, a waltz, a polonaise, a mazurka, and two ecossaises! You might need to Google all of those. They're coping terrifically but we still have a way to go, for sure.

At this stage, having covered all of the opera, we now have to go back and look at the beginning again. It feels like we rehearsed it a year ago! But all the good work of these later rehearsals always has to retrospectively inform the work we did earlier. The cast have been going back and adding new layers to their characters, and it makes a big difference.

Hands. What on earth do you do with your hands while singing? This is our daily challenge. Empty gestures? Or gestures linked directly to the thought process of the character that help express what we're singing about? We try and try again and again.

Studio rehearsal is by far my favourite part of the process. (Please don't correct this to "favorite." (I'm a Brit!) I have nothing but admiration for these students all singing so clearly and correctly in Russian. I speak Russian and still find it difficult. How they're dealing with it is miraculous. Have there been tears this week? Yes, there have—tears of joy and surprise at how amazing it feels when it all comes together and you hit that magic spot as a performer and time really does stand still.

There's lots more to do, lots more to rethink, develop, throw out, and guard like a tiger. Now I need to check the schedule and see what we're rehearsing today and spend an hour or so preparing it. The struggle is real, and it never stops.

Yale Opera will present Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin February 15-17 at the Shubert Theatre.

DETAILS & TICKETS