Meanwhile, across the river from 'Porgy & Bess'... 'Candide'!

Oh, with something as great as Mary Zimmerman's ravishing 'Candide' now onstage at The Huntington Theater, I don't know why anybody is even thinking about Diane Paulus's A.R.T. mess.

Zimmerman, an artist with a vision, should offer to mentor Diane Paulus in the art of direction and respectful adaptation. If you're anywhere near 'Candide,' make sure you see it, and you'll understand why Zimmerman got the "genius" grant.

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Updated On: 9/25/11 at 03:22 AM

Word of mouth in Chicago was pretty much thumbs down. I opted out, as much as I love Candide. Not a huge Zimm Fan, but glad you liked it.

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When I saw it in DC, it was one of the best things I've seen. I thought it was a brilliant production, though I don't know if changes were made between Chicago and DC (or Boston).

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gvendo, this is a new version written by Mary Zimmerman that stays extremely faithful to the book. Seeing it in Chicago, I thought it had some really amazing moments, but some parts dragged and got boring. From what I had seen of previous productions of Candide, I enjoyed this one most as I felt like in the end, Candide had really become a man with an understanding of the world and then he uses the knowledge to start over from nothing and let his garden grow, whereas most other versions tend to be farcical comedy until they're all left alone with nothing and then they sing "Make Our Garden Grow" out of nowhere. I felt that this version had achieved as much as it could by sticking as close to the book as possible, but it could have used some tightening up and maybe a slight divergence from the book when required. I heard Mary Zimmerman say that she can't start writing until the rehearsal process has begun because she needs an understanding of the cast, so I think that maybe the limited time she wrote it in had to do with some of the flaws. I read that the show was streamlined a bit for DC, so I'm thinking that the show has made a number of changes for the better. It's been almost a year since I saw the show, so that's a lot of time to make changes.

On a side note, how is Lauren Molina doing as Cunegonde? When I saw her, I thought she acted the role great, but her high notes in "Glitter and Be Gay" sounded underwhelming. They weren't bad at all, but they didn't have the big grand quality they usually do.

AwesomeDanny, didn't John Caird kind of already do that with his version? I don't see the point in making more versions of shows that have already had enough.

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Please tell me they use the Caird revised script--the only one that works IMHO.

I've only ever seen one other production of "Candide," and after that I didn't really get why its beloved by some people whose taste I respect. Then I saw this one and I got it.

Zimmerman's adaptation (though she gives everybody else in creation whoever had a hand in the book a credit before she takes here [See how it's done, Diane Paulus?!]) has gotten raves in Boston, including one critic/blogger who had this to say in his review:

Well, now the Midwestern MacArthur "genius" Mary Zimmerman has turned her prodigious talents to this long-standing challenge. And to my mind, she has indeed come up with the best of all possible Candides. Or at least the best one we are likely to see in our lifetimes. Yet suitably enough, the path of her production has been a wayward one. It endured mysteriously mixed reviews at its Chicago opening, but as it has toured the country it has garnered awards, and its reputation has steadily built; I hear it has been tightened slightly, and surely the lead performances (Geoff Packard, Lauren Molina, and Larry Yando have been with it from the start) have all deepened. Still, those initial notices seem bizarre at this point; this is one of those productions whose greatness you feel in your bones; and I don't think I'm alone in feeling that way ...

He's not.


blog link

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I've only ever seen one other production of "Candide," and after that I didn't really get why its beloved by some people whose taste I respect.

I'm gonna take a rough guess and say you saw the '73 version?

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The director's apparent trademarks from her production work. To clarify my reply above, by "'73 version" I mean the one Hugh Wheeler wrote alone, with the singing sheep and the knockabout farcical quality.

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"The director's apparent trademarks from her production work."

Which are...?

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Geez, Google Mary Zimmerman will ya. She's not exactly a new discovery.

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