Candide, Spring 2004
The Ohio State University School of Music and the Department of Theatre present
Candide
by Leonard Bernstein and Richard Wilbur
Presented in Thurber
Theatre
Directed by Steven C. Anderson
April 23 at 7:30 PM
April 24, 30, May 1 at 8 PM
April 25 and May 2 at 2 PM
Voltaire's towering work of comic and philosophical genius is one of the glories of 18th-century satire and is as relevant today as when it was first written. Candide explores a world that is dominated by violence, greed, war, hatred and a series of catastrophic events seemingly unmitigated by goodness, truth, beauty or God. Voltaire's great achievement is to temper his merciless analysis of human cruelty, and the apparent emptiness of heaven, with extraordinary wit and good humor. While disturbed by his story, we also find ourselves laughing uproariously at it. Add one of Leonard Bernstein's most brilliant scores – featuring The Best of All Possible Worlds, O Happy We, and Make our Garden Grow - and Richard Wilbur's witty lyrics to this heady mix, and you have a work of unalloyed pleasure.
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