Terry Teachout blogs a snippet of one of his current theatre reviews for The Wall Street Journal at About Last Night:
“Leonard Bernstein’s “Candide” is back on Broadway—almost. New York City Opera, whose Lincoln Center headquarters is a block from Broadway and slightly north of the theater district, has revived its 1982 production of Bernstein’s 1956 operetta. Like the show itself, this “Candide” is flawed, but it definitely works, and unlike the semi-staged concert version presented last spring by the New York Philharmonic, which ran for just four performances, it plays through next Saturday, long enough for the word to get out….
Mr. Prince’s staging (reproduced by Arthur Masella) is full of good, dirty fun. The cast is generally fine, though Mr. Cullum isn’t quite right as Voltaire/Pangloss—he’s broad and bluff, not sharp and sardonic—and Ms. Christy, a very good Cunegonde in her own right, inevitably labors in the shadow of Kristin Chenoweth’s billion-volt performance with the New York Philharmonic. Nor is the New York State Theater well suited to Richard Wilbur’s quick-witted lyrics, which are best heard in a smaller house, ideally on Broadway.
Still, any “Candide” is infinitely better than none at all, and this one is performed with zesty, infectious relish….”
Why do I mention this? Because tonight Regina Lyric Light Opera begins rehearsing its production of Candide, set for May 24 to 28 at the University Theatre, Riddell Centre, University of Regina–and I’ll be playing the part of Voltaire/Pangloss. I’ll do my best to be sharp and sardonic rather than broad and bluff.
