The July 6 concert at the Filene Center will feature the Wolf Trap Opera Company, The City Choir of Washington and the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Stephen Lord. Show time is 8:15 PM.
James Robinson will direct the evening, which will also boast the talents of Dominic Armstrong as Candide, Anne-Carolyn Bird as Cunegonde, James Kee as Maximilian, Leena Chopra as Paquette, Rodell Rosel as the Governor, Diego Torre as Captain and Beau Gibson as Vanderdendur.
The creative team also includes Evan Rogister (assistant conductor), Grant Loehnig (principal coach) and Laura Lee Everett (production stage manager).
Candide features music by Leonard Bernstein, a book by Hugh Wheeler, lyrics by Richard Wilbur with additional lyrics by Bernstein, John Latouche and Stephen Sondheim.
Wolf Trap describes Candide as such: "Voltaire's Candide (or Optimism) is a sprawling and bewildering satire that we mere mortals are hard pressed to comprehend. But it is a measure of Leonard Bernstein's genius that when we take Candide's musical journey, we feel simultaneously the naïveté of the optimistic young man and the jaded cynical world around him. Truly touching moments (Candide's 'It Must Be So') mix with broad comedy (the Old Lady's 'I Am Easily Assimilated') and unflinching parody ('What a Day for an Auto-da-fè!'), until it all washes away in the glorious 'Make Our Garden Grow' finale." Best known for his work on the Emmy-winning TV sitcom "Seinfeld," Jason Alexander is also a Broadway veteran. He made his Broadway debut in the original cast of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along, and he also appeared in The Rink, Broadway Bound, Jerome Robbins' Broadway and The Accomplice. Alexander won a 1989 Tony Award for his work in Jerome Robbins' Broadway, and he also starred opposite Martin Short in the L.A. mounting of Mel Brooks' The Producers.
Tickets, priced $20-$55, are available by visiting www.wolftrap.org.
The Filene Center at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts is located at 1551 Trap Road in Vienna, VA.
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The New York City Opera is currently presenting a production of Candide — starring Daniel Reichard, Judith Blazer and Richard Kind — through April 19 at the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center.
