Candide

Candide
Music by Leonard Bernstein. Book by Hugh Wheeler after Voltaire. Lyrics by various. Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. Conducted by Brett Weymark. Directed by Mitchell Butel. Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House. September 29 & 30, 2018.

This was a lavish banquet of a production that is an absolute treat for lovers of operetta and musical theatre. The first thing to knock your socks off is the tidal wave of sound.  A sumptuous orchestra fills the Concert Hall stage, surrounded by up to 300 singers.

The choir sounds both tight and energetic, and is a dynamic part of the production. At various times they move, change costume and radiate a joy of appreciation for the work which coincides with the 100th anniversary of the birth of the composer Leonard Bernstein.

Candide is based on Voltaire’s 1759 novella of the same name. It “takes the audience on a round the world romp of idealistic optimism as it clashes with a series of absurdly unfortunate events” (program notes). It starts in a castle in Europe and traverses love, murder and mayhem to the new world.

The format of a concert stage with principals entering the front, then popping in and out of the choir stalls was an excellent vehicle to feast on the genres of music – succinctly described by the Director Mitchell Butel as “operetta, gavottes, waltzes, musical comedy, Wagnerian choral singing, and Gilbert and Sullivan patter songs.”

The silliness of the plot (at times) was papered over by the gusto of the principals. Alexander Lewis as Candide was charismatic and sweet. However the show was stolen by Annie Aitken as Cunegonde. She acted with huge dollops of chutzpah and her soaring aria was stunning.

Phillip Scott charismatically held the proceedings together both as a narrator and as the character Pangloss in the grand adventure. Kanen Breen milked every laugh possible from his camp character Maximillian.

There was so much star wattage from the choir, cast, orchestra and lavish costumes from Brendan de la Hay that I began to wonder when Caroline O’Connor was going to appear and how crucial she was to the production? Eventually her character of the Old Lady entered the narrative providing a nice bit of icing on already delicious cake.

David Spicer

Photographer: Grant Leslie

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