ABT @ the Met Onegin 6/18

        If there was any question as to whether Lensky simply failed to get a shot off or chose to allow Onegin to kill him during their duel, it wasn’t answered on Tuesday night at ABT’s opening performance of Onegin in which Jake Roxander gave a terrific portrayal of Lensky’s ambivalence during Act II of John Cranko’s brilliant ballet based on Alexander Pushkin’s legendary poem. Roxander as Lensky, the brooding poet, who was humiliated in front of high society by his best friend’s flirtations with his girlfriend, initiated the duel with Onegin but seemed conflicted right up to the last moment as to what he should do. Neither Lensky nor Onegin could walk away from the challenge without injuring his own pride. And so the duel proceeded and concluded by shattering the lives of all four main characters.

        Debuting as Lensky, Roxander displayed theater skills equal to his heralded technical skills. His Lensky wore his heart on his sleeve when it came to Olga, dancing with her as though it was his life’s dream. When Onegin decided to have fun at his friend’s expense by flirting with Olga, Lensky at first shriveled in humiliation and then struck back in anger with a challenge to a duel. Lensky’s soliloquy which preceded the duel is one of the most beautiful balletic solos ever created for a male dancer. Roxander with his incredible physical control, flexible arabesques, and dramatic openness conveyed Lensky’s torment brilliantly. Toward the end of the solo, Lensky circled one leg behind him then the other to step backward. He then stopped as though realizing that there was no way to go back now. Still, we did not know what his decision going forward would be.

 

        Zimmi Coker was fresh perfection as Olga — a young aristocrat who failed to see Onegin’s flirtations as hollow and who was initially insensitive to their effects on Lensky. Energy radiated through her facial expressions and her scrupulous dancing. Together, Coker and Roxander looked like ABT’s future, the next great Giselle/Albrecht or Juliet/Romeo or Swanilda/Franz pairing.

 

        The evening’s main characters were portrayed by Cory Stearns (Onegin) and Christine Shevchenko (Tatiana). Their roles were dutifully danced, step by step, gesture by gesture during Acts I and II. Their bedroom PdD included lovely shapes in the lifts which also had a sense of daring. Tatiana’s character, however, was not differentiated from what we have seen in Shevchenko’s Juliet or even in Seven Sonatas. We saw Christine hoping to be Tatiana. The pulse was the same, the facial expressions were the same, the posture was the same as all that has come before. It’s never enough to genuinely feel like the character inside; one must artificially create and communicate in high volume who the character is. Internalized subtleties don’t read well from the Met Opera house stage. Stearns had more success in conveying his character’s boredom and callousness. He was able to almost immediately make the audience uncomfortable about who he was. Should we adore him for his cheekbones and good looks or should we despise him for his sense of entitlement? Onegin has long been one of Stearns' best roles along with Othello. They don’t tax his technique and allow him to dig deeply into the characters' psyches. His partnering throughout the evening was strong and highly coordinated. Gone was the look of terror on his face that we remember a decade ago when he danced opposite Dvorovenko’s Tatiana and he knew that she was going to throw every bit of herself and her soul at him.

 

        By the time we got to Act III, Stearns and Shevchenko managed to bring a good amount of drama to the final scene, even perhaps exaggerating Tatiana’s effort to break free of Onegin’s grip. There was a jolting effect that we hadn’t observed before. Musically, they were superb, hitting the crescendos in the lifts with maximum impact. Stearns was in a good place stamina-wise and in confidence and we were able to admire the dramatic arc that he brought to Onegin. We look forward to seeing how he and Shevchenko are able to further mine the treasure from Pushkin’s greatest poem and Cranko’s greatest ballet in their final two performances.

 

        The members of the corps de ballet were superb in their dancing and theatrical output. 

 

        A word about the behind-the-scenes drama that occurred the week before the opening when staging supervisor Reid Anderson apparently nixed the opening night cast of Devon Teuscher and Daniel Camargo. We don’t care what the reason was or whether Anderson was wallowing in his own sense of entitlement as the primary stager who exercised ultimate control over casting or was simply being erratic and difficult. Waiting until the final week to assert authority and up-end the theater plans of thousands of people was both unprofessional and detrimental to the reputation of John Cranko. The fact that ABT was not forthcoming with an explanation and more importantly silently allowed Anderson to jeopardize the run of Onegin, suggests that the new artistic director needs a firmer grasp on her own authority. We all know that we were gypped out of superb performances by Teuscher and Camargo. 

 

        The H.H. Pump Bump Award is bestowed upon Jake Roxander for his gripping portrayal of the poet, Lensky.

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Eulalia Johnson]

Greetings, Haglund. Thanks for another meaningful review. I was at the Wednesday matinee that saw Forster replace Stearns as Onegin, Misseldine replace Shevchenko as Tatiana, Hurlin replace Brandt as Olga, Bell replace Ahn as Lensky and Curley replace Markey as Gremin. (Quite some musical chairs thanks to Teuscher and Camargo being pulled, though thanks isn't quite the right word!)

The invention and eloquence of Cranko's choreography never fail to overwhelm me and the performance was exceedingly well danced. Forster's grief after Onegin kills his friend, Lensky, was almost unbearable to watch; one's own body felt his grief with him. Bell of course is an amazing dancer but so tall and noble that you know you are watching a future Onegin whose days as Lensky are already numbered. Lensky was the best role I ever saw Joseph Gorak perform; his puppy dog vulnerability and small stature made him a figure of pathos. Bell is a hero from hair to soles: Young as he is, he is not an ingenu but a prince. That said, everyone and the corps were compelling. The corps' diagonal runs in the first act were screamingly exciting. They made me remember what it felt like physically to be young and exuberant before the darkness of the human experience falls on one. For that moment alone, Cranko deserves to be remembered as a great choreographer. And he gave us one such moment after another. I'm looking forward to the Saturday matinee. The grapevine has it that Whiteside triumphed in the title role.

[Haglund]

Thanks, Eulalia. Tonight I'm seeing the cast that you saw. Very much looking forward to it.

[Rachel]

Thanks for your lovely descriptive review as usual.

One small critique, well intended - take it as you will - the word gypped is an ethnic slur you may desire not to employ in future reviews.

[Haglund]

Thanks, Rachel.

[Marta]

What a great review! Thanks, Haglund. It makes me feel as if I had seen the performance. Even though I don't love this ballet, I'd buy a ticket right now if I could attend!

[Zachary]

If you recall, Reid Anderson pulled the same stunt on Svetlana Zakharova when Onegin was staged at the Bolshoi. At the time, it was framed by the press to seem like Zakharova was a diva walking out on the production for not being opening night (a notion disproven by many other premieres she's taken part in). However, when she talked about it in interviews, all she said was that they wanted drama and to provoke her - she wasn't going to allow herself to be part of it.

[Haglund]

Extremely shabby.

[Pat]

Thanks for a great review. I agree with you that Roxander and Coker were the highlights. I was looking forward to Teuscher and Camargo. I found Stearns to be a bit wooden. I remember the last time ABT presented Onegin. Gomes/Vishneva and Bolle/Ferri are tough shoes to follow for any of the dancers.

[Haglund]

Hi, Pat. It may be that most of us have already seen the greatest pairings of Onegin/Tatiana that we will see in our lifetimes. However, the young Tatiana who I saw last night may soon give Vishneva and Ferri a run for the money.

[C]

Hi Haglund, I would be curious to hear more about your thoughts on Chloe Misseldine’s cast in Onegin? I’ve heard so much about her but have not had the chance to see her in person yet. Thank you!

[Scott]

These last minute casting changes are disrespectful to both the dancers and the audience. Injury is one thing. But I don’t think that is what was going on here. ABT can’t afford bad PR right now.

[Eulalia Johnson]

Haglund, today's Saturday matinee was another afternoon in the company of a masterpiece. Hee Seo completely won me over. Eloquent, lyrical but at the same time deploying a go-for-broke recklessness in her duets with Onegin, she was always in total control of her instrument. I say duet not pas de deux because of the singing quality of what she and Whiteside achieved. Even their dissonant harmonies, so to speak, made beauty of anguish. She demonstrated absolute trust in Whiteside, generating respect for him as a dancer and her colleague while he fascinated us as Onegin. His was a nuanced performance of great impact. It is always a wonder in the theatre when characters become--or so it seems--real people. Bravi to the rest of the cast and to LaMarche, who conducted masterfully, as he always does. I hope ABT brings Onegin back with regularity.

[AMJ]

Would love to hear your thoughts on Misseldine's Tatiana (and of course the rest of Thursday's cast), Haglund. I was there and I thought it was wonderful.

By the way, I think Zakharova would have made a terrible Tatiana—she is all cold aloofness and haughtiness. She would be much better as Onegin!

[Inessa]

Dear Haglund, thank you so much for your review. The only cast I was able to see were Seo/Whiteside as Tatiana/Onegin and Royal/Trenary as Lensky/Olga. Pushkin’s versed novel is so beloved by many Russian speakers that sometimes I forget the dancers have never read it and their characters portrayals may reflect that. Hee Seo was a standout for me, she truly embodied the role of Tatiana the way Pushkin described her. Calvin Royal would sometimes forget that Lensky was an 18 year old poet, romantic to the core, however the duel scene broke my heart. I’m not usually a fan of James Whiteside as a dancer, but his Onegin was convincing. I was reciting verses from the novel in my head the entire time, it really felt like the dancers poured their soul into the performance.