Candide

Take a wild and witty journey through a world gone mad! Candide is a brilliant satire about humankind’s capacity for mindless optimism, set to a remarkable score by famed West Side Story composer Leonard Bernstein. 

Bernstein’s genius is on display: from the exuberant overture, to the soprano showpiece Glitter and Be Gay and the moving finale Make Our Garden Grow.

This new staging by award-winning director Dean Bryant was a smash hit upon its Melbourne premiere in 2024, with critics declaring it “the best of all possible productions” (Australian Book Review).

Musical theatre renaissance man Eddie Perfect and the star of Hamilton Lyndon Watts reprise their roles in a production that delivers both first-rate comedy and the symphonic magic of Bernstein’s score.

Presented by Opera Australia

Conductor  Brett Weymark
Director  Dean Bryant
Set & Costume Designer  Dann Barber
Lighting Designer  Matt Scott
Choreographer  Freya List
Voltaire/Pangloss  Eddie Perfect
Candide  Lyndon Watts
Cunegonde  Annie Aitkin
Old Lady  Dominica Matthews
Maximilian  Euan Fistrovic Doidge
Paquette  Cathy-Di Zhang
Cacambo  Eddie Muliaumaseali’i
Governor/Vanderdendur  John Longmuir
Martin  Andrew Moran

Opera Australia Orchestra
Opera Australia Chorus