Music by Leonard Bernstein; book adapted from Voltaire by Hugh Wheeler; lyrics by Richard Wilbur; additional lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, John Latouche, Lillian Hellman, Dorothy Parker, and Leonard Bernstein; directed and newly adapted from the Voltaire by Mary Zimmerman; original orchestrations by Bruce Coughlin; director/adapter, Mary Zimmerman; choreographer, Daniel Pelzig; music director/additional arrangements and orchestrations, Doug Peck; scenic design, Daniel Ostling; costume design, Mara Blumenfeld; lighting design, T.J. Gerckens; sound design, Richard Woodbury; production stage manager, M. William Shiner
Cast: Pangloss and others, Larry Yando; Candide, Geoff Packard; Cunegonde, Lauren Molina; Maximilian and others, Erik Lochtefeld; Paquette and others, McCaela Donovan; Servant and others, Travis Turner; Bird and others, Emma Rosenthal; Soldier and others, Joey Stone; Soldier and others, Alexander Elisa; Orator and others, Evan Harrington, Orator's Wife and others, Abby Mueller; Anabaptist and others, Jeff Parker; Old Lady, Cheryl Stern; Cacambo and others, Jesse J. Perez; Governor and others, Timothy John Smith; Queen of El Dorado and others, Tempe Thomas; Sailor and others, Spencer Curnutt; Vanderdendur and others, Rebecca Finnegan; Martin and others, Tom Aulino
Performances: Now through October 16, Huntington Theatre Company, Boston University Theatre, 264 Huntington Avenue, Boston; tickets range from $25 to $105 (student rush $15) and are available by calling 617-266-0800, online at www.huntingtontheatre.org, or at the Box Office Tuesday through Saturday, noon to curtain (or 6 p.m.), and Sunday noon to curtain (or 4 p.m.).
Candide, Leonard Bernstein's brilliant musical based on Voltaire's 
satirical 1759 novella that skewered the absurdity of blind optimism in the face of earthquakes, floods, wars, and other human miseries, has gone through many revisions since it debuted in 1956. Lillian Hellman's original book has been all but forgotten since Hal Prince helmed a popular one-act revival in 1974 (and another grand and expanded version in 1997) that featured a more faithful, and comical, translation by Hugh Wheeler. An acclaimed 1999 London revival rewritten by John Caird also included minor lyrical enhancements by original lyricist Richard Wilbur and Stephen Sondheim.
