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One of the highlights of our new podcast series,This Moment In Opera, comes at the end of each podcast when the artists being interviewed discuss their favorite moment in the opera they're working on.  We have extended that feature to our blog, and invited one of City Opera's Spring 2008 artists, Sandy Rosenberg, this year featured as "the baroness" in Candide, to discuss her favorite moments:

 

 

"I am one of those somewhat opera illiterate people (shameful, I know...) I am a Broadway musical 'baby' and started going to Broadway shows when I was 3 years old (I've been told).  My first opera experience was part of a program through the NYC Public School system in the 1960's to bring opera to kids who might not normally get the chance to experience it.  I saw Joan Sutherland in Lucia Di Lammermoor and as a kid, not knowing what it was all about, I just remember thinking, "Wow... that woman can SING!"

"I have loved Candide since I saw it at the Chelsea Theatre at BAM in the early 1970's.  I even played the same role of the Baroness in summer stock at Theatre-by-the-Sea in Matunuck, Rhole Island, in 1976 (with Martin van Treuren, the Voltaire/Pangloss cover here -- how's THAT for full circle!)  I have many favorite moments in Candide but my overall favorite is probably the finale, "Make Our Garden Grow."  The sheer beauty of the entire cast joining in acapella is almost overwhelming and has brought me to tears many times over the years."

 

The history of Candide the musical is as picaresque and convoluted as Voltaire's narrative itself.  And I would add that Candide the musical is an excellent demonstration of crankiness being channeled to good use -- the crankiness in question being that of that world-class curmudgeon, the playwright Lillian Hellman.

 

It was originally her idea to adapt Candide.  Voltaire's satire of the Spanish Inquisition, with its religious hysteria and official torture, struck her as a perfect way to demonstrate the folly of the Communist witch-hunts of the 1950's, which sported their own imperiously hurtful inquisitory body, the House Un-American Activities Committee.  You may recall that it was Lillian Hellman who, when summoned before that committee, refused to testify against her colleagues. What was her famous line?  "I will not cut my conscience to fit the political fashion of the times."

 

What began as Hellman's notion in 1953 took three years to come to fruition -- and over the years since the first Broadway production of Candide, there have been dozens of revisions, additions, subtractions, tantrums, permutations and transmogrifications.  And don't worry; I'm not going to list them all for you.

 

Candide is baseball-like in its tendency to sprout statistics.  There are over two hours of music in Candide, comprising an incredible 30 musical numbers.  Writing the show's book, Lillian went through 14 different versions.  My father saw at least seven different versions of the show over the course of his life.  The original Broadway production ran a paltry 73 performances, barely two months' worth of shows, for a total gross of $340,000.  For his three years of labor, my father made $10,000. (Voltaire, by the way, wrote his novella in 3 weeks.)

 

 

We have created a second blog which features daily reports from our five Student Correspondents.  Today, Alex Park discusses his experience at Candide.  Here's a short excerpt:

 

"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, 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."

 

Leonard Bernstein's Candide, which The New York Post hailed as "beautifully conducted by the versatile George Manahan," has returned to the New York State Theater for a limited engagement through April 20th. This week, the City Opera blog staff went backstage before the show to take pictures and get the inside scoop. Just how does the cast of this fast-moving production prepare themselves for the stage? Please see below for highlights.

 

 

On Lielle Berman's first night playing Candide's Mademoiselle Cunegonde, there is a bit of trauma with her fake eyelashes.  "One of them won't stick properly," she tells the makeup artist, who then reapplies the eyelash glue and evens out her foundation.  Lielle tries out a few test-blinks and gives her makeup artist the thumbs-up.  Afterwards, she sips water and reads a "good luck" card from the director.  When she's asked about her pre-show routine, she is thoughtful for a moment.  "Hmm... what do I do before a show?  I guess that depends on the day.  Usually, I'm just running around annoying the hair, makeup and costume people.  Or maybe that's more during the show," she jokes.  "I actually don't have much of a routine.  I just do whatever feels good that particular day.  I keep trying to remember to eat something before I get my makeup on, because I usually forget, and then I'm starving by intermission!  But the one thing I always do is a slow and leisurely vocal warm up."

 

 

 

 

 

"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...'"

 

This past Friday, April 11th, New York City Opera held its first ever Boys Night, a networking event for gay men.  Guests of this event enjoyed refreshments and drinks on the Promenade of the New York State Theater before attending the evening performance of Candide.

 

Please click HERE to see photos from the event.

 

If you've seen City Opera's poster art for Candide, you may have noticed the inclusion of a sheep wearing a tiara in the left-hand corner of the image.  While at first glance this may seem a bit odd, the sheep of El Dorado are part of Candide's journey -- and what could possibly be better than a pair of sheep who also sing? 

 

Sopranos Jennifer Piacenti and Sarah Moulton, both making their City Opera debuts this season as pink sheep, maintain that they are proud to be a part of this production of Candide -- arguably, "The best of all possible productions."

 

"From the very beginning," says Piacenti, "Deborah [Lew, returning pink sheep] told me that this show was nothing but fun, and she was right.  I mean, how serious can you be when you're wearing a costume fashioned from pink bath mats?  'Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy,' is basically what she said -- 'Oh, and whenever you don't have to be on all fours, go ahead and walk!'"

 

We have created a second blog which features daily reports from our five Student Correspondents.  Today, Daniel Jones discusses his experience at the opening night performance of Candide.  Here's a short excerpt:

 

"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!"

 

Leonard Bernstein's Candide, which The New York Post hailed as "beautifully conducted by the versatile George Manahan," has returned to the New York State Theater for a limited engagement through April 20th.  This week, the City Opera blog staff went backstage before the show to take pictures and get the inside scoop.  Just how does the cast of this fast-moving production prepare themselves for the stage?  Please see below and return back for highlights.  

 

 

To get into character as The Old Lady in Candide, Judith Blazer arrives at City Opera's hair and makeup department one hour prior to curtain.  As a member of the hair & makeup department applies color to her eyebrows, other members of the cast wander in for microphones and wigs, and Judith says hello with her eyes shut.  She's soon ordered by makeup artist Amy Porter not to move too much or her eyebrows may go awry.     

 

 

Candide opened on Tuesday evening and the good reviews have begun to pour in -- full of praise for this ultimate revival of what Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times called "Leonard Bernstein's richest musical theater work":

 

"It's grand to see City Opera's colorful production of Candide return.  Thanks to its dazzling yet melodious Leonard Bernstein score and humorous story by Hugh Wheeler via an 18th-century classic by Voltaire, Candide is an ideal work for introducing young spectators to the glories of opera.  It's a fast-moving series of picturesque scenes -- designer Clarke Dunham's cartoon vistas look as witty as ever -- accompanied by memorable music."

– Sommers, Star-Ledger

 

Harold Prince's acclaimed production of Leonard Bernstein's Candide has returned to City Opera for a limited run, now through next Sunday, April 20.  This is part 2 of a two-part interview with the production's stars, Richard Kind (Dr. Pangloss) and Judith Blazer (The Old Lady).  For part one of this interview, please click HERE. 

 

Judith Blazer:  There's a lot of vaudeville in this show.  I saw the production from the 1970s, which, ironically, was starring these two friends of mine who I did not know at the time -- Lewis J. Stadlen and Maureen Brennan, who is one of my close, close friends.

 

Richard Kind:  Who else was in that one?

 

Judith Blazer:  June Gable was in it, too.  But the funny thing about Marueen is she was in college at CCM at the time.  She was in her first or second year, really young.  She knew that they were auditioning for Candide and she was a coloratura, and she wrote Hal Prince a letter: "Dear Mr. Prince, I'm in college at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music.  I would like more than anything in the world to audition for your show."  He wrote her back and she got the audition, and she flew to New York and booked the job, and she never went back to CCM.  It's an incredible story.  But anyway, what I do remember about the piece -- and I, at the time, was not in theater, I was an opera singer -- was just noticing the different environments that Hal [Prince] had created.  Originally, I believe that he wanted it to be like a circus where the audience walked around from place to place watching this segment of the show, or that one.

 

Candide opened yesterday to an enthusiastic audience at The New York State Theater.  The production plays 13 more performances through April 20th.  Recently, we spoke with two of the production's stars, Judith Blazer (The Old Lady), and Richard Kind (Dr. Pangloss), who had a lot to say about Voltaire, the value of optimism, and why the wisest man in the world is not as wise as you might think.

 

 

Judith Blazer:  It's uber-difficult for me.  It's uber-difficult and uber-different.  But George Manahan [musical director] is the farthest thing from a diva I have ever known, and I've known him since I was seventeen.  We went to college together and hung out together; we're friends.  I marvel at how he shifts gears, especially in this, and realizes that the play comes first.  He's really exceptional in that regard.  Also, this show's been done here before and it's in rep.  So for us, even though we're encouraged to create our own performances, we're still coming in to a pre-existing show that has been done a certain way, and that's very challenging.

 

 

Richard Kind:  I think the best example you can use is that we're having our dress rehearsal on Friday and we open up on Tuesday.  And, except for three hours on Sunday in a rehearsal hall, we don't go over the script because singers need those four days to relax their voices and get in shape again.  Usually, when you're heading towards opening night, the rehearsals become even more concentrated.  You just rehearse and rehearse and rehearse.  This is the opposite.  The sound of the music in this hall comes first and foremost, whereas I'm used to telling a story first.  My acting is fertile ground and I can work and work and work on that.  But they are not about that here; they are about how to hit those tones as perfectly as you can.

 

One of the highlights of our new podcast series, This Moment In Opera, comes at the end of each podcast when the artists being interviewed discuss their favorite moment in the opera they're working on.  We have extended that feature to our blog, and invited one of City Opera's ensemble cast members, Jennifer Piacenti, currently featured as a pink sheep in City Opera's spring production of Candide, to discuss her favorite moments:

 

As for my favorite moment in any opera, I am going to be very specific here.  A few seasons ago at The Met, Karita Mattila and Bryn Terfel were starring in Salome.  I was lucky enough to be sitting center orchestra only a few rows from the stage.  In the final moments after her incredible dance of the seven veils, Ms. Mattila's love scene with the decapitated John The Baptist left me absolutely speechless.  The drama combined with her incredible vocalism... I just sat there absolutely stunned and moved to tears.

 

Other than that, of course, my favorites would include Lucia's mad scene, and the final moments of Tosca (wow... I never realized I was such a downer!)

 

My favorite moment in Candide so far: well, this is my first time in Candide, so I am sure my opinions will change after experiencing being in this incredible production.  Having seen Candide as an "outsider," I would have to say the "Easily Assimilated" number is an absolute show-stealer.  I can't wait to be onstage when Ms. Blazer rocks the State Theater with her version!  Oh, and of course THE SHEEP.  Their part isn't baaaaaad either.

 

Our acclaimed production of Candide returns next Tuesday for a 2-week run. This is the second part of a 2-part discussion with Candide cast members Lauren Worsham (Cunegonde #1), Lielle Berman (Cunegonde #2), Jessica Wright (Paquette), and Kyle Pfortmiller (Maximillian) who discuss the characters, themes and comedic aspects of this piece.

 

 

Lielle Berman: Um, Lauren is funny.

 

Lauren Worsham: And Lielle's high notes come out like buttah.

 

Lielle Berman: She's funny and I just stand there looking pretty.

 

Lauren Worsham: Lielle and I have talked about it because we come from very different approaches.

 

Lielle Berman: Very different backgrounds.

 

Lauren Worsham: Lielle has classical training. She's an encyclopedia of knowledge when it comes to music and her technique is just phenomenal.

 

Lielle Berman: Go on, go on!

 

Lauren Worsham: Whereas I come from more of a musical theater background, so I feel much more comfortable in the comedic aspects of the role. That's not to say that I don't sing, but this is a bit of a fish out of water for me, to be singing it in this style. As a musical theater singer, I could do more of a Maureen Brennan version of this and it would be perfectly suitable.

 

Lielle Berman: We're separate but equal. It's a totally different energy. She gets so many laughs; I'm a little bit like, "how did she do that?"

 

Lauren Worsham: And equally so, in terms of Lielle's voice -- I'd say we're both anxious about something, although we're trying not to be. I'm trying not to compare myself to her.

 

Lielle Berman: But that's the beauty of all of this. We're apples and oranges and I think because we are so different in who we are and what we do, it makes it impossible for there to be competition.

 

Lauren Worsham: It's also really convenient, seeing someone else play your role; it gives you the opportunity to steal little things.

 

Lielle Berman: We can really see what works and what it looks like...

 

Lauren Worsham: Two heads are better than one.

 

Jessica Wright: Or you can go, "Mmm...bad choice, bad choice..."

 

Lauren Worsham: Not to mention, this role is -- for me, or I think for anybody -- very vocally demanding. I, for one, after doing all these rehearsals, I'm really looking forward to getting out there, but the idea of performing it every night is terrifying. I think I would cease to exist.

 

 

Lauren Worsham: I think we're finally getting to a point, or at least I am, where I've got it down. But I've enjoyed watching. I've stolen things...

 

Lielle Berman: No way -- I'm stealing from you.

 

Lauren Worsham: I'm trying to get to the point where I'm not paying so much attention to exactly what Lielle is doing because I don't want to compare myself to things that I am incapable of doing.

 

 

Lauren Worsham: Well, it's interesting -- two of the people you named do not really come from the opera world. And I remember, actually, in my audition for this -- I had a fantastic time, and my acting was fine and everything -- but for my high notes, they said, "Listen, they're great for musical theater, but for an opera house, it's not what we're used to. We need your voice to have more height." There's this thing in opera about height, which they don't really teach you in musical theater. And I'm closer to a Barbara Cook or a Kristin Chenoweth; their voices are absolutely fantastic, but they're more like character voices. But then there are people like June Anderson, and when I listen to her version, it's so drastically different.

 

Lielle Berman: The first time I learned this aria, I coached it with Natalie Dessay, and that couldn't be any further out of the American musical theater paradigm. And she had some fantastic ideas about a lot of things that were really very funny -- but would never in a million years work in this production. But that was the first jumping off point for me with this aria. And then I proceeded to sing it at every luncheon and dinner and donor event known to man. It's become the 'fun party aria' and no one really thinks of it in context. But I think bringing it into this context and the way that we're doing it -- with the theater roots really being the foundation of this production -- I think working at it from the character's point of view, the character in context point of view, brings different colors to it, and that's what I've been discovering.

 

Lauren Worsham: For me, one of the interesting things in these voice coachings is that they're trying to teach me to color my characterization and my voice with the technique that they teach. Whereas in musical theater, you can go off and do a funny voice; you can do whatever you want. That's ok, that's funny, that's allowed. In opera, that just doesn't really happen. Now this show, granted, is not really a hard-core opera, but you'd never hear someone in Marriage of Figaro do a weird voice.

 

Jessica Wright: What's funny is that for my audition as Paquette, I sang "Glitter and Be Gay." It's such a great piece. And as a singer, especially as a soprano, I've found that once you're vocally warm and you hit those high Ds and high E-flats, it's very difficult to get into more of a musical theater voice, which is more of a belt, and what audiences are used to hearing -- like Kristin Chenoweth singing "Popular" [from the musical Wicked] as opposed to Kristin Chenoweth singing "Glitter and Be Gay." So I also sang "Quiet" -- which is this argument I'm having with the old lady about wanting mollusks -- and when I finished singing that, they said, "Ok, that's great, but don't sing it. Can you kind of scream it at the top?" So for my role, Paquette, they didn't need a real "singy-singer." But that's a very technical explanation.

 

Lauren Worsham: This is an opera house, and it's the aria. Let's face it, it is the aria.

 

 

Lielle Berman: The comedy is written in. Bernstein was a genius. He wrote so much straight into the music -- so much that you just have to sing what's on the page and it will be funny and you won't have to necessarily work to deliver it, especially the musical stuff. The dialogue he didn't write, although of course the dialogue works in a different way than the musical stuff, but I think a lot of the comedy is simply written in.

 

Jessica Wright: And I think both ladies are brilliant at finding the comedy and playing the comedy. Nothing drives me crazier than seeing a performer up on stage singing "Glitter and Be Gay" and using it as simply an aria, as a vocal showpiece. I want to tell them, no! Because it's hysterical -- it's very funny. You have to be conscious of that.

 

 

Kyle Pfortmiller: It's so hard to work with them -- it's miserable! No, kidding. The great thing about this cast in general, and about working with these two ladies specifically, is that you can be in the moment and you can meet their eyes and work with them and have this great energy. And that makes the job fun. It doesn't matter which of them it is; they're both there; they're both present in the moment. And I've worked with people before in this business where you're lucky if you can meet their eyes, and maybe in opera that's necessary because you have to be faced out to sing out in a house like this -- but it's a great experience when you can work more directly with an actor on the stage.

 

 

Jessica Wright: The thing is, if you're really in it -- you're in it to win it, so to speak, and everything ends up working -- especially if it's a good show. I think, also, that our stage director (Arthur Masella), he's such a good director in that he can give you a note that's concise enough without telling you exactly what to do. He gives you the idea of what he wants, and I think the idea of what he wants is laid out for every character, and I think you ladies are both being given that idea, which works for the entire company. And maybe that changes ever so slightly, but it's always still the same idea so it's easier to work around, I think. I'm never ever fazed that it's a different Cunegonde. There are never any jarring moments.

 

Lauren Worsham: The choreographer, Pat Birch, was kind enough to help us choreograph each of our "Glitter and Be Gays" to best suit our needs, which was really nice. The rest of the show... it isn't necessary to do that.

 

Lielle Berman: It's really personal, and no matter what, when you have the same idea coming out of two different people's mouths, it's going to have a different color to it. But it isn't like we are expected to be carbon copies of each other. We're encouraged to be comfortable, to be able to relay these ideas in the most effective and free way for us. The characterizations and ideas themselves are the same, but how they manifest in each of us ends up being slightly different.

 

 

Jessica Wright: Peter, one of our supporting cast members, he plays a lot of tiny little parts, and there's an accent that he does, I think as one of the Bulgarians, that's hysterical. Also, when he's at the Auto Da Fe, he has a line about the ongoing torture, something like, "Ooh! Ooh! They've broken his jaw!" and just the giddy excitement he has there -- it kills me! I'm usually standing there in my tree-topper costume in the back, unable to move, and just laughing.

 

Lauren Worsham: There are these two dancers who have these tiny featured moves -- just wait until you see the bongos -- just tiny little things that are so funny.

 

Jessica Wright: And anything that comes out of Richard Kind's mouth -- you have to give him kudos. He has come up with so many different, brilliant things --

 

Kyle Pfortmiller: He has this moment where he balls up his fists and says, "Everything is perfect JUST THE WAY IT IS!" [All laugh] I love that moment: "Everything is perfect just the way it is." And, it is.

 

 

Lauren Worsham: Oh, God no -- none of it was worth it! I mean, Cunegonde is raped by a bunch of Bulgarians, then she sleeps with these fat old men to get jewels and riches and be reunited with her one true love -- I don't know, I think she would have rather, from the beginning, just run away with Candide and eloped.

 

Lielle Berman: But she couldn't have known what would happen. That's the point of --

 

Lauren Worsham: True, she couldn't have known. So, as far as the "best of all possible worlds?" Well, of course, Cunegonde wouldn't trade Candide for the world.

 

 

Kyle Pfortmiller: Well, I think after dying twice and never really being able to tell anyone about the story, because every time he starts to tell the story, something happens --

 

Jessica Wright: He does tell me, though.

 

Kyle Pfortmiller: That is true -- but it's never specific.

 

Jessica Wright: So you think Paquette and Maximillian at the end -- you think they finally get hitched?

 

Kyle Pfortmiller: I think it's a logical conclusion.

 

Jessica Wright: With that in mind, she's not of noble blood -- she'd be smearing the family name. Do you think that would work?

 

Kyle Pfortmiller: Well, to answer the first question -- is it all worth it? I'd say, have them get back to you after the first few years of marriage. But really, I think the bigger answer is they're happy to have simply crawled out from under the old philosophy. As for the second question, I think it took dying twice, cross-dressing, and ending up like his father, in a fat-suit at the end, to make Maximillian see it's not all about him. Maximillian loses all of his worldly things -- his beauty, the fact that he was smartest in school, the fact that he was this strapping young man -- so in the end, he does come to this completely humble place where he can say, "Wow, maybe what my parents taught me wasn't so true."

 

Jessica Wright: Kyle, that's beautiful. But really, the answer about you being in that fat suit at the end is: comedy.

 

Lauren Worsham: I just have to throw this out there; the question, "is it all worth it in the end?" actually adheres to the older philosophy of the show -- that this is the best of all possible worlds, when it isn't. So in fact, no, it's not worth it. I'm trusting my immediate response on this one, because if the answer is yes, then that means everything turns out for the best, but that's assuming everything you go through you have to go through.

 

Lielle Berman: But I don't necessarily think the point of the show is to prove that that axiom is not true. Even in the novel --

 

Jessica Wright: But the novel also ends differently than the opera.

 

Lauren Worsham: Yes, in the novel, poor Cunegonde is butt ugly at the end. And she's sort of resigned to her fate.

 

Lielle Berman: Right, but what I mean is those two things can actually co-exist in this universe, within our life experiences. Because I think -- and I have a different take on this -- I think for Cunegonde, it is worth it. Because what happens is she comes from pearls and rubies and marble halls and breasts of peacock to, "Yeah, I was a fool, and now I'm going to put on an apron and go back and squeeze out some kids and work on a farm." And she's actually happy about that. And I think she couldn't have appreciated that, or Candide's original idea of the "noble life," if she hadn't gone through all she'd gone through. So it brought her to this point where she could be happy with Candide, whereas she couldn't have been happy with him if none of that had happened.

 

Jessica Wright: I agree with that. And you know, people always say, on your deathbed, that you don't ever think, "God, I wish I had just earned another hundred thousand a year." No. You think, "I wish I had taken more time to just enjoy life," and I think that is really the "21st-century explanation" for the show. That it's not about having worldly possessions -- the breast of peacock -- I mean, Paquette and Candide, they never had all of that stuff, and they're the ones who, in the show, stumble onto the magical El Dorado where treasure is just given to them, you know?

 

Lauren Worsham: And they're bored as hell there!

 

Jessica Wright: Yeah. Paquette is just like, "Get me out of here! (Let me take some of it with me) but get me out of here!"

 

Lauren Worsham: It's nice for maybe five minutes --

 

Lielle Berman: But it's not a sustainable way of life. I think the point here, and in life, is that you can't sit around just living a useless life of luxury. You have to do something productive or meaningful -- contribute in some way to the world. You can't sit around and say, "Hey, everything is so great here for right now."

 

Kyle Pfortmiller: I think "Is it worth it?" is a hard question to answer, but I think it all had to happen. I think, for Maximillian, all of those dominos had to fall where they did for him to get to the end. And from a real-life perspective, I think, for me, from the perspective of "Kyle," the question of, "Is everything I've done in my life worth it?" Well, I don't know, but here I am -- you know?

 

Lauren Worsham: You can't quantify it.

 

Lielle Berman: You can't put judgment on experience. You can't really say "best" or "worst;" life just... is what it is. The world is the world.

 

Jessica Wright: Whether or not the process of getting to that moment, of growing up, is worth it -- that I don't know. But the concept of the show -- it seems like a lot of silly on top of silly, but then all of a sudden you get to the end, to "Make Your Garden Grow," and it's a beautiful, powerful moment, and bam -- it's so honest, and simple. After all of the farce and the big costumes and the fat suit, the answer is to just make your garden grow.

Our acclaimed production of Candide returns next Tuesday for a 2-week run.  Recently, we sat down with some of the show's cast members -- Lauren Worsham (Cunegonde #1), Lielle Berman (Cunegonde #2), Jessica Wright (Paquette), and Kyle Pfortmiller (Maximillian) -- who discuss the characters, themes, and comedic aspects of this piece.

 

 

Kyle Pfortmiller:  It means that [my character] Maximillian's pimple isn't as bad as it seems.  That's what it means to me.  When he says, "Everything has a benign purpose!" it leads me to think [touches his face] "thank god!"  For my character, at that point, it's all about the pimple.

 

Jessica Wright:  Quite frankly, Paquette [the serving maid] is just trying to understand what that means.  She's trying to grasp even a concept of what that could possibly mean.  I mean, they don't know anything bad yet, so, I guess throughout the piece --

 

Lauren Worsham:  Even having to sleep with nasty old men?  That's not bad?

 

Jessica Wright:  But she's never slept with nice men.  It's like her bar has been set.

 

Lauren Worsham:  She doesn't know what she's missing.

 

Jessica Wright:  Exactly.  Also, I think Paquette is treated very well for somebody who's in a house of nobility but is not noble.  I'm being educated -- I'm even educated in extra-curricular activities!  [laughs]

 

Lauren Worsham:  I think [my character], Cunegonde, is a really selfish character, so any philosophy that's put forth has her thinking, "Everything happens for the best for me in this best of all possible worlds."

 

Lielle Berman:  [Cunegonde] is selfish, but I don't think it's necessarily in a negative way.  It's just sort of, you know, "Oh, everything is supposed to be for the best, so there's got to be something good about this.  Maybe I'm not aware of it or maybe I can't figure out what it is, but I know it's in there somewhere, and that makes everything alright."  I think as the show goes on and all these horrific things happen, then it becomes sort of like, "Oh well, this has to work out okay."  So it's all very justifiable; there's a good reason to accept everything.

 

 

All:  Oh, they believe it.

 

Jessica Wright:  They believe it because that's what's been taught to them since they were little.

 

Lauren Worsham:  Even towards the very, very end.

 

Jessica Wright:  The very first sign that something might be wrong [for these characters] is the war on Westphalia.  Candide is the one who verbally says it, but every character, I'm sure, is thinking, "Ok wait, how does this [war] apply?  All I know is what Dr. Pangloss has taught me: everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds."  I also find it very interesting that while we're all struggling to figure out what really matters, Candide's the one who, in the very beginning, knows the secret.  He says [in his duet with Cunegonde], "I want a farm.  I want to have a little home and this is what will make me happy."  And meanwhile, all the rest of us are thinking, "Ooh, I want rubies and diamonds! Or, "Oh gosh, I want a clear complexion!"  And in the very end, who's right after all?  It's Candide who's right: "Well, let's make our garden grow.  And we all realize that's truly what happiness is."

 

 

Lielle Berman:  They're survivors.

 

Lauren Worsham:  I agree.

 

Lielle Berman:  As much as Cunegonde idealizes all of these expensive things, once she actually gets them she realizes that [this life] is not all it's cracked up to be.  She has all of her wishes fulfilled; all the things she wanted in the "Oh Happy We" duet, she gets.  So then it becomes, "I got what I wished for and I have to make the best of it.  Do I really have much choice in the matter? These are the things that have happened to me and I've had to do what I have to do to get by.  And look, it can't be all that bad because I've gotten, at least, all the things that I thought I wanted."

 

 

Lauren Worsham:  I don't think so.  I think the role of women over time has always been kind of like that.  We've, unfortunately, been beneath men, and have had to work in their system.  And only up until recently did we have other options besides prostitute, teacher, or wife.

 

Jessica Wright:  You have to answer this question by also asking the question, "How are the men portrayed in this piece?"  And the men are portrayed as the typical, bumbling -- especially when Paquette walks up to them with her cleavage.  It's tough to say, "Are they survivors?" because in the very beginning, for Cunegonde at least -- her being wealthy -- that was her life and thus that became her survival.  Her life was the quintessential utopia.  So these characters use the tools that they've been given from being young and beautiful to try and survive in the outside world beyond their utopia.  But I don't think they use it to their advantage.  I don't think they know any better -- particularly Paquette.

 

Lauren Worsham:  Well, they are portrayed as being slightly manipulative, I would say.  But "gold-digger" -- to me -- reminds me of somebody who's doing really well and just wants more.  These women are trying to survive and are being manipulative in order to survive.

 

Lielle Berman:  But the other thing to remember is that these jewels -- they represent security, they represent home, they represent the life Cunegonde used to lead where she was so content and safe.  So it's not that it has to be jewels because I'm greedy; it's that it has to be jewels because that's what makes me feel like a human being because that's what I grew up with and it's what I knew or valued.

 

Jessica Wright:  The women are the ones who are leading the way, too.  Pangloss even says, "Ah, that resourceful Paquette."  She's the one who leads through the jungle and through the water, and helps Candide, this guy who's still just asking the questions --

 

Lauren Worsham:  And besides Maximillian and Candide, pretty much all the other men in the show seem to be looking for sex.

 

 

Kyle Pfortmiller:  Pretty much.

 

Lauren Worsham:  I guess Candide is as well, to a certain extent, but he wants love.  But you have the governor, Pangloss, the baron, you know -- they're portrayed as very lascivious, whereas you're [Kyle] pretty much asexual...

 

 

Lauren Worsham:  I think he's a little incestual -- he gets pretty upset about Cunegonde!

 

Kyle Pfortmiller:  It's true!  Well, here's the funny thing on this very topic.  All of the women use their wiles, their 'manipulation' -- if you want to call it that -- to survive, but things just happen to Maximillian.  I think it goes back to the fact that he was that kid, that rich kid whose parents always said, "you're the best!"  So he tries really hard in school but he's only the pretty boy, and so, when things go wrong, he's like, "Excuse me? What? No! This is all wrong!  I'm the jock and I'm supposed to have the pretty girlfriend!"  When things go wrong, what else can he do?

 

 

Kyle Pfortmiller:  Of course!  Yes!  I think, when you're told by someone over and over again how wonderful you are, you're going to do pretty much whatever that person says.  So I'm going to believe everything my parents tell me.  And Maximillian doesn't really have any other guidance besides Pangloss -- and he doesn't get the love that he needs from Pangloss.  But his Daddy will always tell him how beautiful he is and so will his Mommy, so when Daddy says "Out!" to Candide, Maximillian wants to be just like his Dad.  Afterwards, Maximillian makes comments about it: "My sister, married to a bastard!" He says this a few times.  Even after dying once, Maximillian hasn't lost this sort of complete selfishness that the world revolves around him.

 

 

Lielle Berman:  We've got to cling to what we've got, you know?

 

Kyle Pfortmiller:  However little that may be.

 

Lauren Worsham:  It's interesting, though, that in order to survive, Maximillian comes over to our side and becomes a woman.  That's how he survives.  So maybe this whole thing makes him a little more sensitive to what we've got to go through.

 

Kyle Pfortmiller:  Sensitive's a good thing to say about him at that point. 

 

 

 

Lielle Berman:  Sex, man!  Whoever's the prettiest gets the most sex!

 

Jessica Wright:  Well, I truly don't think that Paquette would be treated the way she is in Westphalia if she didn't look the way she did.  She wouldn't be put in the baron and baroness' house; she wouldn't be put through school.  I don't think she really knows any better, but she knows what it is about her that gets her a little bit ahead.  That's the way it is.

 

 

Jessica Wright:  Paquette never dies...

 

Lauren Worsham:  Cunegonde is presumed dead -- death by ravishment.  But she doesn't actually die; she just sleeps on a pile of dead bodies.

 

Lielle Berman:  Yeah, she just gets tossed out and then sort of claws her way back to civilization.

 

Kyle Pfortmiller:  Max dies twice in this.  In the actual book, he dies three times, but he dies twice in this -- once at the hands of the Bulgarian invaders and once at the hands of his dearly beloved foster brother... by accident.

 

Lauren Worsham:  Pangloss also dies quite a few times.  But the Bulgarian invaders, do they kill him?

 

Kyle Pfortmiller:  They don't kill him necessarily, but he is hanged.  And then we don't see him again until he's the old man.  And then he dies again (we think) as the old man.  He has some sort of stroke --

 

Lauren Worsham:  A seizure, a stroke, something.  He falls over and gets overexcited. [laughs]

 

Lielle Berman:  We basically get re-invented.  We don't die, we just get re-invented.

 

 

Lielle Berman:  Definitely.  I think because of her experience [having been raped], she learns to do what she does in Lisbon, with the Inquisitor and the Jew.  She goes, "Oh, this is how I can satisfy people and somehow get by."  So then it becomes, "Oh, that's what I learned from this so that means it's for the best."

 

 

Kyle Pfortmiller:  That's the tagline for this interview. Candide: useful tool.

 

 

Jessica Wright:  But she's using the lesson she was taught in the very beginning.

 

Lielle Berman:  It does kind of have that biblical reference to the garden of Eden -- that as soon as Cunegonde and Candide eat the apple, or start to get curious about the apple or try to taste it, that's when everything starts to fall apart.

 

Lauren Worsham:  For me, I think the whole show is about kind of a transition from lust -- whether that be for sex or jewels or money -- to love.  That's why I think the last number, "Make Our Garden Grow," can be uplifting and very pure, but also very calm, because I feel that's what love should be like -- not so frenetic and excitable.

 

Lielle Berman:  It also takes us away from the goal-oriented, idealized, "Once I have these material things then life will be what it's supposed to be," to, "Life is just a process of work," and just an act of being in touch with what we do as human beings, which is work, whatever form that may take.  So instead of, "I have to get back to Cunegonde and marry her," it becomes, "We just have to do our work, and we can be fortunate to be side-by-side doing it."

 

 

This spring, Lincoln Center's extensive redevelopment of its many buildings and public spaces moves into the next big phase of work, including construction on and below the Center's main plaza with its iconic fountain. 

 

If you haven't been to Lincoln Center lately, you may be surprised by the addition of extensive construction fencing which has closed off the usual driveway dropoff and some of the plaza itself.  In addition, some of the other ways you may be used to arriving at Lincoln Center may be closed off temporarily during periods of renovation.

 

This construction work will directly affect how you attend a production in New York City Opera's spring season.  We encourage you to check our website for updated information about how the construction work may be affecting the subway and bus stops, parking garage and pedestrian access before arriving for a performance.  Always be sure to allow extra time to get here, so you won’t miss a minute of the opera.

 

In addition, Lincoln Center has provided several ways to learn more about the work being done and how it may affect your visits to the campus during the next year:

 

You will still be able to use the main stairs in front of the plaza to get to the New York State Theater this spring, but parts of the stairs will be closed off at various times.   Also, part of the plaza itself will be fenced off, including areas around the fountain.

 

Lincoln Center's north-south driveway (between 65th Street and 62nd Street) is temporarily closed during construction -- eventually, it will be reconfigured to dip down below the main stairs so that cars will drop off passengers below street level. 

For patrons in wheelchairs or those with limited mobility, access is available to the New York State Theater on West 62nd Street at the west end of the Theater by Damrosch Park. Patrons exiting vehicles at this location should then proceed north (toward Lincoln Center Plaza) along the side of the State Theater and turn right at the west end of the Terrace to reach the main Lobby entrance.

 

The State Theater's traditional Wheelchair Entrance will still be accessible and can be reached by going west on 62nd Street to just beyond the loading dock of the New York State Theater and taking a right into the first driveway. At the bottom of the incline, and just inside the facility, is a place to stop the car, disembark passengers needing a wheelchair or other walking assistance, who can then be admitted through the Wheelchair Entrance.  A red telephone just to the right of the doorway will permit you to gain access to the building.

 

 

Buses: The M104, M5 and M7 bus stop is currently located at 66th Street and Broadway.

 

Subways: The pedestrian passage that connects the downtown subway entrance to Avery Fisher Hall to the New York State Theater may be closed at various times. 

 

 

 

Westbound (via 62nd Street)
A parking garage entrance is located between Columbus Avenue and Amsterdam Avenue, between the New York State Theater and Damrosch Park on the north side of the street.

 

Eastbound (via 65th Street)
A parking garage entrance is located between Columbus Avenue and Amsterdam Avenue.  Take the second available right into the Lincoln Center complex on the south side of the street, just after the mid-block stop light.  This entrance is currently surrounded by gray metal scaffolding.

 

Handicapped Access
Designated handicapped parking spaces are located in the Yellow Section of the garage.

 

Important Note: The Lincoln Center Parking Garage is likely to be full near performance time, due to a reduced number of available spaces because of construction demands.  Signage will be posted to assist drivers through new pathways within the garage complex.  Drivers without a parking reservation should plan to allow enough time (up to 40 minutes) should they be unable to park at this facility.

 

 

 

 

This season, we are presenting thirteen productions.  13 operas x an average of 10 principal singers + 32 choristers = minimum of about 550 costumes, not counting costumes for covers and understudies.

 

To give you an idea, our dressers can get a singer changed from a maid's costume into an evening gown in 30 seconds.  But if you really want to see impressive quick changes, just imagine the entire chorus of a production changing costumes simultaneously in 3 minutes or less.

 

How many dressers per opera:

 The amount of dressers all depends on the size and demands of the opera.  This past fall, our production of Carmen had the most dressers with 17 (which did not include the wig and make-up staff.)

 

We have sheep, lions and "a lady with one left buttock" in Candide -- perhaps not complicated, but certainly out of the ordinary.