The author considered the modern trends in the development of the operetta theater under the influence of a change in its paradigm. The main elements of the play's design are analyzed from the point of view of the director's vision of a creative graduate student. The content of the director's expansion of the libretto of Jacques Offenbach's operetta "The Key on the Pavement" is clarified, which consists in adding inserted episodes in order to modernize the work and so to dynamize it by finding new colors, namely: the prologue - an interactive scene of the meeting of the audience by mimance artists in the hall of the theater for direct involving the audience in the theatrical action and the dance-pantomime scene during the overture with the greeting of the newlyweds and the handing over of wedding gifts. The director's means of expression, the nature of their synthesis in an artistic project are outlined. The director's model of the artistic project based on J. Offenbach's operetta "The Key on the Pavement" in the author's vision of a creative graduate student has been determined. The content of the director's expansion of the libretto of J. Offenbach's operetta "The Key on the Pavement" is clarified, which consists in adding some episodes this innovation gives the operetta a modern structure that attracts the contemporary audience. The main elements of the director's idea of the play were revealed: scenographic solution, mise-en-scène drawing, director's characterization of the personages with the development of their psychological portraits, supertasks and artistic images of the characters of the play. The director's idea of the project was formed in the context of the composer's conceptual vision for a harmonious combination of form and content. It has been proven that the most vivid directorial means of expressiveness of contemporary theater art is the use of multimedia and the latest art technologies. Emphasis is placed on their compliance with the requirements of the time, on special attention to the balance and expediency of their use, harmony with the original work. The vectors of further scientific research in the context of modernization of operetta performances, which are caused by the change of the theater paradigm and the search for modern directorial means of expression to increase the impact on the audience, are predicted.