Version Therapy

Candide at the Arden Theatre Co.

by David Anthony Fox

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For six decades, fans of Bernstein's Candide have summoned as much willed optimism as its eponymous hero, as they watched their beloved show through a string of revisions, reimaginings and revivals. Here's great news: Terry Nolen's production at the Arden is a real stage success — a beautifully spare production that touches the right mix of humor and pathos, and offers a slew of fine performances.

It's worth carrying the torch for Candide if only for Bernstein's fabulous operetta-style score. The lyrics, by a string of theater elite including Richard Wilbur, John Latouche, Dorothy Parker, Bernstein himself and later Stephen Sondheim (wow!), are very nearly as good. But the books — Lillian Hellman's strident original and Hugh Wheeler's jokey rewrite — aren't in the same class.

Terry Nolen smartly chose another version entirely — a newish one by John Caird, whose book is overlong but follows Voltaire's picaresque narrative, full of politics and religion and the right satirical tone. It's a tone that Nolen reinforces throughout the production, staged with great éclat but never overtly showy, and designed with wonderful elegance. Roles that are often overplayed here have dimensionality.

Alas, the singing isn't always up to it. Ben Dibble is a lovely Candide, using his trademark befuddled sweetness to advantage. He's got an excellent voice, too — but it's a pop-style voice, and he can't always pull off the long phrases. Mary Martello is terrific as the Old Lady, and never camps it up too much — but again, though she can get all (well, most) of the notes, she doesn't have the requisite tonal fullness. Ditto with Scott Greer as Pangloss and Voltaire (though he is too campy). Candide is a score where the right singers make dramatic points specifically through the musical line — and that doesn't always happen here. (Liz Filios, the Cunégonde, comes closest — but her diction is opaque, and she hasn't really put a stamp on the character.) In the plus column, the ensemble is full of fine actors and singers — great cameos from Christopher Mullen and Richard Ruiz, to name just two.

The one major disappointment is the reduced orchestra — a tinkly performance of the magnificent overture gets things off to a very poor start. But trust me, it gets better. The totality of this vibrant, masterful show gets our theater season off to pretty much the "Best of All Possible" beginnings.

(d_fox@citypaper.net)

Candide Through Oct. 19, Arden Theatre Co., 40 N. Second St.,215-922-1122, ardentheatre.org