In a season that has varied widely in its conceptual continuity, The Atlanta Opera’s Candide (through March 12 at the Cobb Energy Centre for the Performing Arts) showcases its capacity for wit and good humor. The show relies as much on mischief, slapstick and ribald overtones as it does on compositional prowess and vocal virtuosity.
The story tells of a blissfully optimistic illegitimate son of noble birth — the titular Candide — who enjoys a leisurely life at the home of a Westphalian Baron until he is banished for a forbidden love affair with the lovely Cunegonde, the Baron’s daughter. Thus begins a series of misadventures which sees Candide (and eventually the rest of the Baron’s family and servants) globetrotting on a series of comedic misadventures which all serve to test our hero’s cheerful resolve. For all its light-hearted intent, the work is nonetheless epic in scope and remarkably intricate in its storytelling and moral implications.
The Atlanta Opera’s previous main stage performances of the 2022-23 season — Madame Butterfly and Don Giovanni — have been masterworks of minimalist staging. Candide sees scenic designer Steven C. Kemp indulging his intricate side with a lavish, multi-tiered set that can be altered at a moment’s notice to be a regal palace interior, the dingy confines of a pedestrian tavern or even a sailing vessel on the high seas. It is an ingenious design with interlocking pieces that can be arranged and rearranged even as the action unfolds before our eyes.
It is that kind of large scale sleight-of-hand that makes the epic realms of the theater come to life. Kemp has outdone himself with a set design that is as captivating to behold as it is brilliantly economical.
From a musical standpoint, Leonard Bernstein’s Candide is a curious beast to dissect. Originally a financial flop in its initial run — and one that would soon be eclipsed by Bernstein’s concurrently developed West Side Story — the show’s soundtrack album eventually attained the cult status that allowed it to grow its audience over time.
It isn’t difficult to guess at the cause of that initial failure. West Side Story and other staples of the Bernstein catalog rely heavily on hook-driven “hit single” style melodies that are as infectious as they are heart wrenching. The motifs of Candide sacrifice memorability and repetition for narrative convenience, creating an odd sort of hybrid of the operetta and the Broadway musical. Instead of traditional songs, we get melodic dialogue. It’s an oddly stilted feeling and one that is definitely an acquired taste.
What Candide lacks in memorable melodic development, however, it more than makes up for in its comedic charm. Carried largely by the narration of Voltaire — the author of the source material — the show is a rich feast of ceaseless laughter from endlessly clever dialogue and surprisingly effective sight gags. It’s all punctuated by bursts of musical levity that more than make up for the lack of catchy songs. The cast as a whole captured that comedic timing beautifully and the audience was in stitches throughout.
For all its epic grandeur and sprawling ensemble cast, the show hinges primarily on the characters of Candide, Cunegonde and Voltaire and as such their casting and chemistry cannot be of greater importance.
Jack Swanson (Candide) and Deanna Breiwick (Cunegonde) are each making their Atlanta debuts. Kevin Burdette (Voltaire as well as Dr. Pangloss) is an Atlanta Opera veteran and all three are captivating in their own right.
Swanson seems aware that at its heart Candide is a Bildungsroman, one where the titular hero learns the true nature of the optimism by the way he lives his life. Swanson ages the character dramatically through his vocal production. The initial strains of Swanson’s performance — when Candide is a posh noble playboy — were thin and boyish to such a degree that one could begin to question his overall capacity as a singer. But as that immature lifestyle gave way to the hardships and toil that would guide him into manhood, a deeper and more commanding resonant tone took over. Swanson made a gamble of his own — hobbling his voice in the opening scenes for the sake of a dramatic payoff later on — and succeeded triumphantly. Candide ages before our eyes and ears as a result.
Breiwick’s vocal delivery is fiery throughout as was that of Burdette. Both are game for the show’s comedic absurdism and really seem to get the concept of molding operatic vocal stylings with the accentuations of comedic dialogue. Breiwick is especially adept at this, and delivered an operatic soliloquy towards the end of the first act that elicited thunderous applause.
Additional praise is due to Deb Bowman for her portrayal of the eccentric Old Lady whose primary feature is having only one buttock. I first saw Bowman deliver a stunning performance as Blanche Dubious at the Serenbe Playhouse back in 2015 and have always found her to be a captivating stage presence even in a supporting role.
There is one “hit” song in Candide, the show’s stunning closer “Make Our Garden Grow.” After a long series of foibles and missteps Candide leads his weary companions (which by now encompasses the majority of the cast) to their ultimate destination: a simple farm where their lives will be filled with the endless toil of hard manual labor.
In this closing number the principle characters — all of them privileged brats and assorted ne’er-do-wells — have resigned themselves to a life of hardship. But in the process, they learn the story’s ultimate moral: that “optimism” isn’t a state of blissful ignorance but rather an ongoing commitment to one’s own self-actualization. It is a surprisingly powerful closing moment, one the cast delivers with all the fire and fury it deserves.
Candide may be an acquired taste. But in the hands of The Atlanta Opera’s stellar cast, it is a taste well worth acquiring.
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Jordan Owen began writing about music professionally at the age of 16 in Oxford, Mississippi. A 2006 graduate of the Berklee College of Music, he is a professional guitarist, bandleader and composer. He is currently the lead guitarist for the jazz group Other Strangers, the power metal band Axis of Empires and the melodic death/thrash metal band Century Spawn.
