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THE GREAT AMERICAN MUSICAL RESCUE
(continued)
As "Candide" was revived across the country and in Europe, much of the Bernstein score was restored, and today the "comic operetta" (as it can most accurately be described) is a combination of the original 1956 version and the 1973 revised revival. The score now takes precedence, but it is held together by Wheeler's book. As the philosophical Dr. Pangloss might say, today's "Candide" is "the best of all possible Candides." Ironically, there is no definitive "Candide." Every production picks and chooses from the wide selection of songs and instrumental pieces that have been used over the years. To perform all the music available would take several hours. Before his death in 1990, Bernstein himself conducted a complete recording of all the "Candide" musical variations; it is a dazzling, remarkable collection, but not something that can be put on the stage effectively. Like another American classic, "Show Boat," "Candide" is somewhat different in its score and even in its libretto with every revival. But regardless of how the details and the musical numbers may differ, it is always a glorious and unique American work.
The staged concert version with the New York Philharmonic broadcast on GREAT PERFORMANCES is no exception. Director and adaptor Lonny Price retains much of the Wheeler book, adding his own narration and contemporary jokes to the 1973 script. But unlike in that version, several songs from the 1956 production are restored. The character of The Old Lady only had one song in the 1973 revival: the delicious Latin number "I Am Easily Assimilated." However, in this concert version, The Old Lady (played with panache by Patti LuPone) is featured in five songs, including the rarely heard duet "We Are Women," which was cut from the original production. Another unusual number, also cut in 1956, is "Dear Boy," perhaps the most cynical song in the score. It is performed by Sir Thomas Allen as Dr. Pangloss and, while it tends to slow down the action, it is a fascinating sample of the tone that pervaded much of Hellman's original script.
Paul Groves and Kristen Chenoweth, as Candide and Cunegonde, sing most of the score's most famous pieces, from "Oh, Happy We" to "Make Our Garden Grow," which are heard in all productions of the operetta. But director Price sees to it that these numbers do not become too reverent or set pieces that are removed from the rest of the show. The duets and Cunegonde's explosive aria "Glitter and Be Gay" are played primarily as comic songs, which they are, rather than operatic showcases. Chenoweth brings down the house with her solo, but it is as much for her astute comic skills as for her considerable vocal pyrotechnics.
In many ways this staged concert version is "the best of all possible worlds" because it wisely mixes Broadway performers with opera talents. In this way both the musical genius and the comic ingenuity of the piece are justly served. Yet such a grand performance would not be possible without Prince and Wheeler's rethinking and revitalizing "Candide" in 1973. One of American theater's most beloved flops was given new life and a prodigious future on stages around the world was secured. It remains the greatest theatrical rescue in Broadway history.
Top banner photos: Jeff Blumenkrantz (Maximilian), Paul Groves (Candide), Janine LaManna (Paquette), and Kristin Chenoweth (Cunegonde); conductor Marin Alsop (all photos by Chris Lee). |
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In addition to the Baron Thunder-Ten-Tronck, Michael McCormick plays the Donald Trump-esque Inquisitor. |
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The finale of Act I, as the lovers, accompanied by The Old Lady, escape to the New World on the Captain's ship. |
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A DVD of the concert performance is available from Amazon.com. |
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