{"id":148339,"date":"2026-01-25T00:13:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T00:13:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/148339\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T00:13:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T00:13:17","slug":"review-san-francisco-ballet-debuts-crowd-pleasing-eugene-onegin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/148339\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: San Francisco Ballet debuts crowd-pleasing \u2018Eugene Onegin\u2019\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>San Francisco Ballet\u2019s choreographer-in-residence Yuri\u00a0Possokhov\u00a0has created a free-spirited, crowd-pleasing \u201cEugene Onegin.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Set to a dramatic yet always lovely score by\u00a0Possokhov\u2019s\u00a0Russian compatriot Ilya\u00a0Demutsky, the new\u00a0production,\u00a0which\u00a0debuted\u00a0Friday night at the War Memorial Opera House,\u00a0appealingly\u00a0retells Alexander Pushkin\u2019s\u00a0classic\u00a019th century novel-in-verse. Here, the\u00a0love-rectangle with the titular anti-hero\u00a0unfolds\u00a0in four acts, with each representing a season. <\/p>\n<p>Bolstered by\u00a0well-appointed,\u00a0well-balanced production values that\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0overtake the movement and music,\u00a0and dynamic orchestral accompaniment led by Martin West, this \u201cEugene\u00a0Onegin\u201d is\u00a0engaging throughout.\u00a0It never\u00a0feels like stuffy Russian ballet; at\u00a0times\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0reminiscent of the\u00a0ballets from the golden age of movie musicals.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-174142\" data-id=\"174142\" data-aspect-ratio=\"1024 \/ 683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Onegin2.jpg\"  \/>Wona Park and Wei Wang portray Olga and Lensky in San Francisco Ballet\u2019s \u201cEugene Onegin.\u201d (Lindsey Rallo\/San Francisco Ballet via Bay City News)<img loading=\"lazy\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-174143\" data-id=\"174143\" data-aspect-ratio=\"1024 \/ 683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Onegin3.jpg\"  \/>Members of the corps portray spirits of nature in San Francisco Ballet\u2019s production of   Yuri Possokhov\u2019s \u201cEugene Onegin. \u201d (Lindsey Rallo\/San Francisco Ballet via Bay City News)<img loading=\"lazy\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-174144\" data-id=\"174144\" data-aspect-ratio=\"1024 \/ 683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Onegin4.jpg\"  \/>Joseph Walsh dances the title role in San Francisco Ballet\u2019s premiere of Yuri Possokhov\u2019s \u201cEugene Onegin\u201d on opening night on Jan. 23, 2026. (Lindsey Rallo via Bay City News)<a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-prev swiper-button-prev swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"\/><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-next swiper-button-next swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"\/><a aria-label=\"Pause Slideshow\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-pause\" role=\"button\"\/><\/p>\n<p>San Francisco Ballet\u2019s always gorgeous dancers turn up the acting skills, too, bringing\u00a0the\u00a0drama to life. On\u00a0opening night, in the first of the engagement\u2019s four casts, Joseph Walsh\u00a0nailed\u00a0the\u00a0troubled\u00a0title character, complemented heartily by\u00a0the\u00a0three\u00a0co-leads:\u00a0Katherine Barkman as Tatiana, the\u00a0bookish\u00a0young girl he rejects\u00a0(San Francisco Ballet Artistic Director\u00a0Tamara Rojo danced the role in John\u00a0Cranko\u2019s\u00a0Royal Ballet\u00a0\u201cOnegin\u201d\u00a0in London in 2001);\u00a0the\u00a0fluttery\u00a0Wona Park as\u00a0Olga, Tatiana\u2019s carefree sister who\u2019s in love with Lensky, Onegin\u2019s\u00a0affable\u00a0friend; and Wei Wang, equally strong as Lensky.  \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While the\u00a0multiple duets between the principal\u00a0characters reflect their changing feelings,\u00a0the\u00a0group scenes with the corps are perhaps more thrilling, including a second act dream\u00a0sequence\u00a0in which Tatiana is spooked by creatures\u00a0(a bear turns out to be Onegin); and the\u00a0welcome appearances of\u00a0colorful sprites, who\u00a0fluidly\u00a0usher in the seasons.\u00a0Tim Yip,\u00a0an\u00a0Oscar winner for art direction for\u00a0\u201cCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,\u201d\u00a0created\u00a0the\u00a0eye-catching costumes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Likewise, Tom Pye\u2019s scene design, Jim French\u2019s lighting and Finn Ross\u2019 projections\u00a0enhance the production with\u00a0just the right\u00a0detail\u2014the duel is particularly effective \u2014and\u00a0never\u00a0seem\u00a0overwrought.\u00a0However, at one point, lines of poetry\u00a0in English\u00a0on a backdrop\u00a0(libretto by Valeriy\u00a0Pecheykin)\u00a0were difficult to read from the grand tier seating.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And while some\u00a0narrated\u00a0poetry\u00a0is\u00a0perhaps\u00a0a\u00a0multimedia element of the production that felt\u00a0superfluous, that\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0the case with respect to\u00a0Onegin facing a harsh, snowy winter\u00a0in the finale, a\u00a0dramatic and\u00a0fitting ending to\u00a0the\u00a0satisfying show.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>San Francisco Ballet\u2019s \u201cEugene Onegin\u201d continues through Feb. 1 at\u00a0the War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco. Tickets are $35-$555 at<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfballet.org\/productions\/eugene-onegin\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> sfballet.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Francisco Ballet\u2019s choreographer-in-residence Yuri\u00a0Possokhov\u00a0has created a free-spirited, crowd-pleasing \u201cEugene Onegin.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Set to a dramatic yet always lovely&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148340,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[73628,73629,73630,73631,73632,73633,73634,101,26971,103,102,104,106,105,73635,73636,73637,73638,73639],"class_list":{"0":"post-148339","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-eugene-onegin","9":"tag-finn-ross","10":"tag-ilya-demutsky","11":"tag-jim-french","12":"tag-joseph-walsh","13":"tag-katherine-barkman","14":"tag-martin-west","15":"tag-san-francisco","16":"tag-san-francisco-ballet","17":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","18":"tag-san-francisco-news","19":"tag-sf","20":"tag-sf-headlines","21":"tag-sf-news","22":"tag-tom-pye","23":"tag-valeriy-pecheykin","24":"tag-wei-wang","25":"tag-wona-park","26":"tag-yuri-possokhov"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}