Candide (Original)(Large)

Leonard Bernstein’s symphonic masterpiece 'Candide' originally launched on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre in 1956 with a book by Lillian Hellman and lyrics by Richard Wilbur. The hyper-imaginative production redefined the musical stage by translating Voltaire's dark philosophical picaresque into a high-art operetta. The narrative tracks a naive young optimist who travels across a brutal world of wars, natural disasters, and inquisitions, stubbornly maintaining his tutor's philosophy that everything is for the best in "the best of all possible worlds," anchoring Barbara Cook's breakout coloratura performance.