Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Candide

Toronto Operetta Theatre has a production of Bernstein's 'musical' on in Toronto now. I had seen an earlier production in the last couple of years, but one lacking the wonderful musical interludes Bernstein wrote. Thie production featured them, and profitably.
While I believe that Richard Ouzounian';s review of the show (and he saw it the night I saw it) is pretty fair, I would disagree with a couple of points. I thought Carla Huhtanen's mugging as Cuneygunde was excellent, and while I agree with him about the high end of her range, I thought she did a wonderful job of selling her role. And there is NO question that James McLennan was simply superb as Candide - great diction and wonderful acting.
I have listened for years to Jean Stilwell singing, and it was a delightful revelation to see her take on a stage role with such delight and utter command. It was a privilege to watch.
My own view is - go see the show. This is a delightful company and I plan to go out of my way more in the future to enjoy their productions.
In this case they let me see the full range of a superb piece of work by Leonard Bernstein. This alone is a treat.

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