VICTORIAN OPERA’S
CANDIDE
Victorian Opera bursts into 2024 with a marvellously rambunctious production of Leonard Bernstein’s operetta, Candide. It might just be VO’s most accessible work of late, with a shimmering composition of some of Australia’s biggest musical theatre talent (Eddie Perfect, Lydon Watts) and the operatic sparkling vocals of soprano Katherine Allen. It’s an intensely lively production, honouring Voltaire’s satirical tale of the ridiculous, blind optimism of its characters. With fantastical costumes, Bernstein’s score, Victorian Opera has rattled the city into wakeful delight.
A line circling about the Palais Theatre aided in the giddy energy of the opening night, with scores of patrons of all ages, style and theatrical inclinations queuing for a taste of this lush offering by Director Dean Bryant. In Bryant’s talented team, conductor Benjamin Northey energetically matched the frenetic energy of the production with such gusto, Bernstein might well have stubbed his cigarette and exited stage left.
On the surface, Voltaire’s plot is loose, satirical nonsense, flavouring itself with every romantic and heroes journey cliché available, but beneath it is a searing revulsion for the natural decay of society and a satire of Enlightenment values ironically associated with the likes of Voltaire himself. It’s all in good fun, but the impossibly optimistic Pangloss (Perfect) and naïve Candide (Watts) must face all the ugliness of the world, fleeing Westphalia, through to Venice, where backdrops of beauty and promise are marred by the corrupt nature of the individual. Despite all the traversing of the New World, Candide ultimately seeks the peace of a smaller life. Is this perhaps Voltaire attempting to find an antidote to his own natural inclination for pessimism? Perhaps, perhaps not, widely debated for its political subject matter across the centuries, Voltaire was ultimately quoted saying that Candide’s aim was to “bring amusement to a small number of men of wit”.
What ultimately makes this production so intensely appealing is its visual decadence, masterfully crafted by prolific set and costume designer, Dann Barber. Flouncing about on stage, in what one could call Enlightenment derelicte, the costumes are as essential to the production as the music itself. Matt Scott’s lighting design is gorgeous, and can both inspire visual pleasure and gloom in its synchronous dance with Barber’s vision and Freya List’s choreography.
Eddie Perfect’s Pangloss/Voltaire steps in and out of his miraculous standing cloak to entertain and narrate to us, while delivering optimistic platitudes. A true master of ceremonies, we can tell that Eddie and the rest of the cast are enjoying themselves. Lyndon Watt’s Candide is wonderfully charming and vocally a pleasure to listen to, while the mastery of Katherine Allen performing Cunegonde is a standout. Overall, Victorian Opera’s Candide is bursting with talent from back to front of stage.
Limited tickets remain available for tonight’s performance of Candide.