Lead casting revealed for WNO’s ”Candide” revival
Welsh National Opera will revive Leonard Bernstein’s Candide next summer, with initial casting revealed.
Ed Lyon (Tannhäuser at the Royal Opera House) will lead the production as Candide, with South African Soprano Vuvu Mpofu as Cunégonde, Madeleine Shaw (ENO’s The Handmaid’s Tale) as The Old Lady and Mark Nathan (Dead Man Walking) as Maximilian.
Karem Kamensek will conduct the WNO for the touring production, which will visit Wales Millennium Centre (22 to 24 June), Venue Cymru in Llandudno (5 July), Oxford’s New Theatre (8 July) and the Alexandra in Birmingham (12 July).
Based on Voltaire’s novel, Candide tells the story of a young man determined to cling to his instructor’s philosophy that “all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds” despite the many tragedies that he encounters. The musical features the songs “Glitter and Be Gay”, “We Are Women” and “Make Our Garden Grow”.
