Candide at the Arden

MichaelNKat
Sat, 27 Sep 2008 09:17:09 +0000

Saw Candide last night (BroadwayWannabe, were you there?). It was great! The staging of the show, in the round with no scenery to speak of and minimalist props (most of which were rectangular boxes with movable panels that could be configured in a variety of ways), was incredibly innovative. It was like a large scale black box production in some ways but also took adavantage of the resources of a larger theater as a whole. The cast, and of course Ben Dibble as Candide, was excellent and what I found amazing was that not withstanding the absence of scenery, the cast was able to convincingly take the audience on Candide’s journeys from country to country. A scene that stood out for me was where Candide is traveling by ship at sea through a storm, the passengers are seated on rows of black boxes, the “bridge crew” of the ship is on the “bridge” (a lowered catwalk?) above and behind the seated passengers, and the choreographed motion of the cast, the music and lighting created the very real and palpable experience of being buffeted in the storm. Having been on the ocean in sailing vessels during heavy seas and storms, the scene really connected for me.

For those in the Philadelphia area, this is a “don’t miss” show. Humor, wit, biting social commentary, great musical arrangements, well acted and choreographed, very strong wonderful voices and incredibly innovative staging. For students, rush tickets are available and given the configuration of the theater and the staging, every seat offers a close unobstructed view.