Last Tuesday night was the opening of New York City Opera's Candide, the final work for this spring season.  And what a way to finish the year!  If you are within 100 miles of the State Theater during the month of April, there is absolutely no reason you can't come down and see this marvelous, historic, trend-setting production.  Also -- New York City Opera's "Opera for All" program is offering $25 orchestra level seats!  Seriously now, if you come to Candide because of my gushing response and find yourself truly disappointed, then contact me and we'll do a depression screening on you.  If everything checks out and you still have heavy-duty problems with spending 25 bucks to see theater so thrilling and polished, then I'll convince New York City Opera to give you a refund.  Except to prove your dissatisfaction, you're going to have to sit through another performance with me next to you.  And if you smile just once during the performance, bet's off!  It's impossible to watch this production without grinning like a goon.

 

When New York City Opera promotes, advertises, and generally raises hell about its production, it has every right to create as big a hullabaloo as it wants.  Candide was practically resurrected at the City Opera back in the early 1980s.

 

 

Candide is essentially an operetta based on the novella of nearly the same name by Voltaire.  The great thing about this work is that it's sung in English and the libretto is nearly perfection.  It manages to be profound and insouciant at the same time, and it's all done with a brevity that easily fits on the supertitles (which you generally don't need anyway because of the superb diction from the performers).  As a result, not much preparation is needed to have a rollicking good time.

 

Candide was a French satirical work written by Voltaire during the Enlightenment.  In it, he railed against the dominant philosophical system of his day -- the theory of Optimism created by Leibniz.  Optimism is the idea that humanity must, and does, live in the best of all possible worlds.  Why?  Because God created the world.  And if God is presumed to be a benevolent deity, then surely the world he created is the best possible one for us.  For those who remember high school calculus, Leibniz is the also the guy who invented calculus backwards, using the integral instead of differentiation, as Sir Issac Newton did.  Surely for a man to have created the calculus backwards, without a purpose in mind (Newton only came up with it because he needed more advanced techniques to describe his theories of mechanics), he needed to believe fervently that he lived in the best of all possible worlds... otherwise, why not just forget it all and toss back a drink at the local watering hole?

 

Anyhow, in 1755 there was a catastrophic earthquake in Lisbon which occurred on All Saint's Day, and it strongly influenced many thinkers, including Voltaire, to reject the indiscriminately saccharine ideas of Optimism.  To get oriented to this opera, all you need to know is that Candide's main character, is well, Candide.  He is young, innocent, and not super-bright.  He represents the tabula rasa which Voltaire uses to prove his point.  Candide falls in love with the local beauty in their idyllic little village of Westphalia, Cunegonde (her name means something unique to women, not necessarily G-rated).  These lovebirds and their friends are indoctrinated by their teacher, Dr. Pangloss, in philosophies reminiscent of Optimism.  Candide is banished for seeking extracurricular pleasures from Cunegonde and henceforth begins a whirlwind saga where harsh realities of a non-Optimism world are seen.  Rest assured, though, that there is a happy ending.

 

I'm not going to say any more because when you enter the State Theater to see Candide, you're really boarding a ride that exports you on a journey all over the world.  The sets are magnificently exuberant and the singers bring you into their reverie, performing not only on stage but out among the audience as well.  The entire experience is an in-your-face, let's-go-along-for-the-ride kind of evening that creates a visceral thrill rarely had in a theater that's not IMAX.  All throughout, the genius of Leonard Bernstein's score evokes exotic locations with brilliant, foreign motifs.  But this is also the man who brought us West Side Story and Our Town, so in climaxes like "Make Our Garden Grow," the music goes straight to the heart and there are few dry eyes in the house.

 

I was so excited on opening night that I risked certain banishment from the ushers and tried to snap a picture of the delicious staging.  It didn't quite come out -- all the more reason for you come see it yourself!

 

As with all opening nights, it was a different sort of crowd.  More high-rollers, you might say -- snappily dressed and ordering champagne at the interval.  From the few I spoke with, it seemed many had seen the production in the past and couldn't pass up seeing it again.  The elderly couple next to me were in tears at the end of "Make Our Garden Grow."  They also watched the performance through opera glasses, which was odd.  You have to understand that I had seats in row D, which can't be more than 15 feet from the stage.  Unless your vision is egregious, the only thing opera glasses might do from row D is perhaps to let you see the pores on Cunegonde's face!  I'm definitely looking forward to getting older.

 

Stephen and Gail, a middle-aged couple I spoke to at the interval, remarked that they thought "every [opera] house needs a good frolic now and then, at least once a season."  Certainly, Candide fits the bill for New York City Opera this spring.  They reminded me that next door at the Met is a fantastic production of Hansel and Gretel -- another exuberant and over-the-top opera with creative staging that certainly could be their frolic for the year.

 

Oh, and one last thing: I was saying that Candide was practically resurrected at City Opera. About that -- you see, Candide initially opened on Broadway as a musical in 1956 and was poorly received although Bernstein's music was undeniably profound and charming -- so it became sort of a cult hit.  Despite this, the production itself had a hard time finding traction anywhere.  So it was re-written and re-worked over the years into other versions with moderate success -- the most popular of which actually omitted more than half of the musical numbers!  Finally in the late 1970s, opera companies began expressing interest in a version truer to the original, with more of Bernstein's score intact. One of City Opera's benefactors then approached Beverly Sills with funding, and Bernstein set to work on it with director Hal Prince.  Shortly thereafter, a new two-act version debuted at New York City Opera in 1982, and it has since become the standard version performed in opera companies around the world.

 

This is the production that made Candide the great hit that it is today.  It all started here --and the tradition is still going strong. You absolutely have to come see it.

 

By the way, as if the opera weren't enough excitement, while you're at the State Theater you might as well check out some of the fantastic non-acoustic art they have in the public spaces.  On the opening night of Candide, I met up with Andrew, my old roommate from college -- it had been nearly four years since we'd seen each other!  He's working in the city now and has a keen eye for visual art.  He noticed that there was a Jasper Johns sculpture hanging on the first floor's west side lobby.  We checked with a very nice volunteer manning the information desk named Ellen.  Indeed, it was a Jasper Johns --whose work was recently featured in a special exhibit at the Met Museum.  In fact, the entire theater is filled with notable art-- most noticeable perhaps being the two enormous female nudes at either side of the promenade, each carved out of a single block of Carrara marble!  So there is truly something for everyone here at City Opera.  But please come more for the music than the two nudes, for they are idealized and abstract whereas the music is not; particularly with Candide, which is as accessible, entertaining, charming, profound, and giddy as you can get in an opera house!

I walked into school on Monday morning, the morning after I saw New York City Opera's production of Candide, and was greeted by a few of friends who asked how I had liked Candide.  I could not think of a response.  I stared at them, completely mute, for a good minute until one of them repeated, "Sonia... how was Candide?"

 

"How was Candide?" I asked, "HOW was CANDIDE?  It was Voltaire's genius plus Bernstein's genius plus New York City Opera's production genius.  It was geniusly genius!"

 

"Right..." they all said, backing away slowly.  "'Geniusly genius...'"

 

My voice teacher, who was at a different performance, thought that the production was a bit "too much;" too long, too overdone, too big.  While I could possibly understand the complaint about the show's length, I wholeheartedly disagree that it is overdone.  In fact, I wholeheartedly disagree with any negative comment about this production.  In my mind, there is almost nothing that could detract from the genius of the music, the text, and the way New York City Opera put it all together.  In fact, I think that New York City Opera managed to perfectly compliment the absurdity of the text with the elaborate set, costumes and props.  I was a fan especially of the small stages on the big stage that allowed the different story lines to flow together very smoothly.

 

The "Note on Candide" in the program really spoke to the genius of both Voltaire and Bernstein.  The note describes the "conglomeration of tango, polka, mazurka, barcarolle, Neapolitan bel canto, Germanic Chorale" and the other types of music that Bernstein wrote into the score.  This mélange of genres helped highlight the radically different places that the characters travelled to, and the individualities of each character.  The paragraph on Candide (the novella, not the opera) made me laugh out loud during intermission.  It describes the meaning of the names Voltaire chose for his characters (i.e. Cunegonde from the Latin for "vulva.")  The only thing I could think after reading this note was, "Dear god, could these two men have been any more detail oriented?"  It's no small wonder that the amalgamation of these two works is so ridiculously perfect.

 

I feel like I have to say a thing or two about the singers.  At first I found the fact that they were all mic'ed a bit strange.  I know that Broadway singers tend to be mic'ed and it's not that this made me think any less of the singers, but the sound felt so out of place at the State Theater that I didn't quite know what to make of it at first.  Once I got used to it, however, I found the singers to be very impressive.  I've heard that it isn't easy for Broadway singers to make the transition into a sound that is more suited to an operetta.  If this is in fact the case, these singers did a praiseworthy job of it.  A few of them were also far younger than most singers you see onstage in an opera (Lauren Worsham, who plays Cunegonde, graduated from college in 2005!); I always find it extremely exciting to see young adults who are already so successful.

 

Candide's finale, "Make Our Garden Grow," is really one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard.  It is the perfect way to end an operetta that is abundant with firework-y and hilarious musical numbers ("Glitter and Be Gay," "The Old Lady's Tale"). "Make Our Garden Grow" juxtaposes perfectly with all of these; it is beautiful, simply and unarguably beautiful.  I'm not a particularly sentimental person, but this song always makes me a bit teary, and seeing it live made me that much more emotional.

 

This is the best of all possible music, the best of all possible novellas, and the best of all possible productions.  See it.  Seriously.

This past Tuesday, I left after my final class prepared to go see Candide.  (My preparation involved meeting up with a dear friend and grabbing dinner.)  As we entered the lobby of the theater, I thought back to my experience at Candide's final, non-dress rehearsal: directors conferring at the production table, cast members plopping down with a book after an extravagant musical number, ensemble members chatting quietly on the sidelines.  Remember how I said that the show was mesmerizing with virtually no set, costumes, or props?

 

When I entered the theater, I was overcome with immense anticipation.  What would the set look like, since the show is already so appealing by itself?  The set, as it turned out, succeeded in engaging the audience even more.  In this production of Candide, the story is presented as if by a troupe of traveling actors on a pageant wagon.  The effect is very welcoming; the production fully embraces the fact that we are all sitting in a darkened room to watch a story.  In fact, the cast walks through the audience at many times during the performance!

 

Out of the troupe of players comes Richard Kind, who narrates as well as plays various roles.  In a recent interview, Kind said that he wanted to focus on making clear the drastic changes in plot throughout the story of Candide; he succeeded with flying colors!  Even as a longtime fan of Candide, I have never understood the story more.

 

The rest of the cast of characters are just as strong: Daniel Reichard wins hearts as a tenderly oblivious Candide, Lauren Worsham and Judith Blazer are equally hilarious as two generations of spunky beauties, and the juxtaposition of Kyle Pfortmiller's beautiful baritone and youthful antics was hysterical.  One of my favorite standout performances was that of Jessica Wright as Paquette.  Maybe it was the surprising power and timbre of her voice, maybe it was her naïve playfulness, but I look forward to seeing more from her.

 

For all of you who have yet to see Candide, be sure to check out New York City Opera's Opera-For-All program.  You get to sit in the first two-three rows of the entire theater for only 25 dollars!  If you sit in the first couple rows, the cast will walk right by you, and if you're lucky, Richard Kind might just sit on your lap!  As for me, I'll be seeing Candide again next week!

Recently, I sat down with Katherine Benfer and Beth Pensiero, two of City Opera's chorus members.  It was incredibly fun chatting with these two longtime choristers who love their job and had some great things to say.  And they were very gracious with a novice interviewer!  Afterwards, they gave me a backstage tour and took me around the State Theater.  I snapped a few shots (below) as we ran around before they got ready for Tosca.

 

 

Beth Pensiero:  There's a range of reactions.  Some people are impressed... and some people are just bewildered, they're not sure what it means.  They don't understand what the job entails, what the schedule's like.  Some people will be impressed, some people will be like, "...oh...you sing, that's nice"

 

Katherine Benfer:  A lot of times they ask you if you get paid for that!  Oh yes you do, as a matter of fact! [laughs]

 

 

Beth Pensiero:  Depends on the complexity of the show.  If it's a big show and there's a lot of chorus in it, they might take a few weeks to work us into a show little by little till production week, which is intense.  If we're singing offstage most of the time and maybe sing onstage for ten minutes, they won't spend much time with us.

 

Katherine Benfer:  We have to learn the music cold, first.  So you have a musical rehearsal, then you have a staging alone, then you stage one opera and perform another.  That's the hardest and it's what we're doing right now.  We had a stage rehearsal of Candide this afternoon from 11:30-5:00pm, and then we have a show tonight, which can go to 11:00pm.  So this is the 12-hour day with a break in between.  At the end of the season, there's a week or two when we're free during the day and just do shows at night.  That's what helps us survive!

 

 

Katherine Benfer:  I think the difference with this career is that you perform.  There's a huge level of intensity and fitness.  Performing is like sports; you work and work and work and work and two minutes later it's over.  There's a huge intensity, and you're acutely aware of everything.  I could compare it to being a surgeon.  They have to study and study and study and they have one shot to get it right.

 

Beth Pensiero:  Performing is a high energy thing.  You can do your paperwork and sit at your computer and not be at your best, physically.  But when you're performing, you must be energized.  But you have to be relaxed as well so your body and your voice will respond.  It can be very demanding.

 

 

Katherine Benfer:  Well, the chorus -- and the orchestra, too -- our job is to help the soloists out, we give them space or guide them.  We know what's going on -- sometimes better than the soloists!  They might know their arias better but we know the show as a whole.  We energize the production, too.  Sometimes, when the chorus comes on, it's like..."let's bring the circus in here and liven things up!"

 

 

Beth Pensiero:  Well, as an example, we've been working very intensely on Candide lately.  It's kind of like an opera in a way but it really is an American musical, too.  This version was written years ago for New York City Opera.  It's a play within a play.  We, the chorus, are an invited audience to watch the story of Candide.  And we sit on the sidelines and watch the action.  But there are these big chorus numbers where we're asked to participate and comment.  We're onstage from the top of the show to the end of the show.  We get to be soloists in a way.  We are on our best behavior -- in character all the time.  It can be very tiring but it's a lot of fun, too.  Alternately, there's the King Arthur chorus, which just comments on the action from the pit.  That's totally different.  Then there are the Puccini operas.  Like in Tosca, we're part of the story.  We're part of the crowd, we're the churchgoers, and we're in the background.

 

Katherine Benfer:  And our purpose there is to reflect the spirit of the time.  In Tosca, we express the agony of the fascist state.

 

 

Katherine Benfer:  And sometimes, the audience can identify with us, too.  We're onstage there and they identify with us as we comment on a situation.

 

 

Katherine Benfer:  I came here from a church-singer background.  I wanted to try this art form and explore it.  What better way to understand it than right from the middle.

 

Beth Pensiero:  I worked with the Opera [Company] of Philadelphia for a few years.  Then I ended up moving to the New York area and I decided to audition here.  The timing was right; they needed someone for a soprano spot and it ended up being me!  And that was 24 years ago and I'm still here!  It's been a way to make a living and have a lot of experience singing with different types of opera.  And we get to go on tour every once in a while, which has been fun.

 

 

Katherine Benfer:  This job has broken me out of who I thought I was.  Imagine you have to look in the mirror every day to put on makeup and see all those wrinkles.  But you put on a different wig and a different outfit -- and you don't get a choice as to what you wear or what wig they hand you -- and this image of yourself gets shaken up a little.  And that can be a very good thing.  You do have to leave your ego at the door, though.  "I'm sorry, I always part my hair on the side!" -- Well, that's not going to work here.  They're going to give you a fright wig or they'll want you to be a madam [of a brothel].  What do you say to that? "I'm sorry, I can't, I'm Episcopalian?" [laughs]  No, you do what they tell you!  And it's good to be flexible, to look at yourself in the mirror and get over yourself.

 

Beth Pensiero:  One of my favorite things about the job is when we participate in an extraordinary production.  We get to do a lot of good stuff with conductors and directors but every once in a while there's an extraordinary experience.  It's wonderful; you get to experience these people and their music in a very special way.  There are good singers and there are great singers.  Renée Fleming was in our Marriage of Figaro production!  And my ears pricked up and I went, "Oh wow, who is she?" and ten years later she's a big star at the Met!

 

 

Beth Pensiero:  Yeah.  So, that's fun.

 

Katherine Benfer:  And I love when you finish a production and you hear the applause and you know you've done really good work. You can't buy that. That's the priceless part of the MasterCard.  [laughs]

 

 

Beth Pensiero:  There's a lot of controversy about the direction of opera today.  And we wonder about the next generation; whether it will end up being the next opera audience.  We want to see this art form continue to flourish, yet we want to keep our standards high.  I really hope that it's true that we are attracting the next generation.  There's so much culture and beauty in opera.  I would hate to see it become a dying art form.  I really want to see it flourish.  That's my hope for the future.

 

Katherine Benfer:  We do care about it, beyond a paycheck.  We just had the television special of Butterfly and I know a lot of people who watched it and were impressed.  They bought tickets to the opera.  It was a wonderful thing.

 

Beth Pensiero:  Yes, there was a lot of positive feedback.

 

Katherine Benfer:  And the houses were packed out there.  This is important to us.  We believe in it.