Candide – VO starts the year with a bang!

Victorian Opera | Candide

February 9, 2024, Palais Theatre, St Kilda

The Victorian Opera has started 2024 with a bang. The funny and philosophical collide in Leonard Bernstein’s Candide had us in stitches and hit home with its fabulous costumes, huge orchestra, great singing and spot-on characters.  

A stroke of genius of programming for Victorian Opera Artistic Director Stuart Maunder being so hot on the heels of the film about Bernstein, Candide hasn’t been seen for some decades on the Australian circuit. So everything about the production felt fresh. 

The huge orchestra and chorus were positioned on the stage, behind the set and action  – presumably as the demands of the score are too big for the pit – which gave us a great view of Benjamin Northey, who was in great form, conducting up a storm, as well as glimpses of the chorus also sometimes jiving to Bernstein’s dance infused score. 

The story, by Voltaire, follows Candide through his trials and tribulations, from his humble beginnings in Westphalia to the New World and back again, gaining and losing fortunes, all in the noble cause of rescuing his sweetheart (several times) and his journey from optimism (the alternative name given to the work by the author) to an understanding about the trials and tribulations of life. 

This is absolutely an ensemble piece, and the Victorian Opera had assembled the best of all possible casts to deliver the goods.

Eddie Perfect as the narrator, Voltaire, and Doctor Pangloss, kept everything moving at a cracking past, a natural fit for both larger than life characters. Lyndon Watts, a musical theatre star, was handsome and wide-eyed as Candide, navigating treacherous waters and people, in his search for a happy resolution. 

The rest of the characters were less concerned about their moral standing as they were focused on survival. This included the fabulous champagne drinking, bauble loving, Cunegonde played by Katherine Allen, whose high notes came thick and fast especially during the famous aria, ‘Glitter and be gay’. Maria Mercedes who was worth her weight in gold as the Old Lady, proving age is no barrier to getting ahead. 

Euan Fistrovic Doidge was great fun as the gender bending Maximillian, and brought comic credibility to the role. Melanie Bird as Paquette and Eddie Muliaumaseiali’i as Cacambo rounded out the ensemble, both taking their roles seriously enough to bring their own humour and personality to the stage. 

Alexander Lewis and Troy Sussman also take on multiple roles, including the salacious Governor of the New World, and a sleazy Pope and businessman in the old one. 

The set was deceptively simple – a caravan – but enhanced with flags, lighting and props, so that we got a flavour of Germany, France, Italy, the New World, even an Incan Princess thrown in for good measure. 

I can’t not mention the two golden sheep in the form of decked-out supermarket trollies, that had us rolling in the aisles. 

Director Dean Bryant along with Set and Costume Designer Dann Barber and Lighting Designer Matt Scott had seriously thought through the action and demands of the story, and they delivered a wonderful romp across the then known world. 

The final chorus ‘Make our garden grow’ was especially poignant for some in the audience, as it was a favourite of the musical theatre and opera communities fundraisers during the dark days of the AIDS crisis. 

Friends who were there told me that the show reminded them to laugh, at life and themselves. And we certainly laughed a lot, helped by the colloquial references and Aussie accents that floated in and out of hearing. 

All of this hilarity was underpinned by the serious elements of the performance including the singing, assisted by Sound Design Samuel Moxham who ensured no style dominated and operatic voices seamlessly merged with those trained for musical theatre. 

The Victorian Opera really made Candide feel like our production, a unique offering and not one mass produced for the theatre market. 

That said, hopefully we don’t have to wait too long to see this production again, it was, after all, to quote Voltaire/Eddie Perfect, ‘the best in this best of all possible worlds.’

Photo credit – Charlie Kinross