A conversation with Rigoletto Director Alex Paul Sheerin

As the audience settles in for Rigoletto, “They don’t know what they’re in for,” said director Alex Paul Sheerin. “The level of these singers, performing what they’ve been rehearsing for an audience for the first time is unlike anything else. In the big dynamic party scene at the start, the energy level coming from this cast is electric. They’re just throwing themselves everywhere with reckless abandon! Opera North is the only place in the world where you’ll get that experience. I love the tent and being there! It’s such a special place.”

As General Director Evans Haile, celebrating his 10^th year at Blow-Me-Down Farm, observes, there are no more exciting words than “live theater.” There will never be another Summerfest 2024 Rigoletto, the experience is unique.

Alex returns to Opera North having directed Carmen in 2023 and after assistant- directing Traviata in 2022 with also-returning Daniel Sutin. The Rutland Herald’s Jim Lowe, who previewed this year’s productions in his column this week, gave a hint of what Rigloletto will bring when he reviewed Carmen last year: “Sunday’s performance was universally well sung with a fine orchestra, and theatrically attractive and convincing, although, minimally staged… Deft stage direction by Alex Paul Sheerin…told the story clearly and invitingly.”

Alex and Louis Burkot have decided to underscore the danger of the world that surrounds the jester Rigoletto by setting the production in the Mafia-tinged Italy of the 1930s. They’ve also cast a film noir vibe on the staging, all in a black and white stark reality.

Given the overtones of the plot, the powerful, charismatic Duke who “has his way with women” and the outcast Rigoletto who projects his life as the outsider into bitterness and cruelty, there is no need for overt political references. “I’m creating a world that feels familiar, retaining a sense of relatability.” But he also wants the audience to feel Rigoletto’s regret, the tragic consequences of trying to lock his daughter Gilda away from all of the outside world’s harms.

Angel Gomez, as the Duke, told Alex he wanted to make him likable, sustaining the charm and the smile. “But that’s the scariest kind of menace, right?,” said Alex.

Returning to opera-in-the-round under the tent Alex said the biggest difference between this and a more traditional proscenium performance is the intimacy – and distance – between the actors and the audience.

As with Carmen, Alex likes to use the floor space around the stage. “At times the actors are two feet from audience members. They must be hyper-aware of their viewpoint. They’re always ‘on.’ You can’t break out of character even for a second.”

While intense, having that experience is an extraordinary skill to learn as the Resident Artists hone themselves for their future careers wherever the stage. “Only one of two of them have ever performed in the round,” said Alex. “There’s much more physicality here and much more opportunity for maximum interaction with the audience from every angle.”

To prepare them, Alex and the production crew, including Louis, move around the rehearsal hall each day. “They’re used to the director being at the front of the room every day when you’re rehearsing for a traditional proscenium production. We consciously move to different sides so they’re drawn to us in different parts of the room. That requires much more movement while performing, keeping the action going.” And it sustains the fresh energy that Opera North Resident Artists are known for.

Rigoletto is one of the classics of Italian opera repertoire; yet Alex suspects not many know the whole story.

“We’re not leaning into the hunchback characterization,” he said. “Rigoletto has just been the low man in his society, the outsider who is jaded by the cruelty he has experienced. He is caught when his own web of cruelty brings its negativity home. As Rigoletto says in his duet with Sparafucile the assassin, “Pari siamo!" – “We’re much alike in what we do.”