By Jacqueline Goldfinger, Dramaturg

Leonard Bernstein's light opera Candide has a storied history. Beginning in 1953, American luminaries such as Lillian Hellman and Dorothy Parker have tackled adapting a libretto from Voltaire's classic satire to match Bernstein's legendary score. However, these versions of the politically charged musical - about an innocent's journey from naïve student to independent thinker and homegrown philosopher - were criticized as heavy handed, lacking character depth, and simply not fun. So when the Royal National Theatre decided to revive Bernstein's Candide for their millennial season, they asked John Caird (Les Misérables, Nicholas Nickleby, Jane Eyre) to write a new book to compliment Bernstein's elegant and imaginative music. Caird's book smartly returns to a strict interpretation of Voltaire's original text. Bernstein and Caird's new version of Candide honors Voltaire's philosophical and creative spirit while lending the classic story a modern sensibility.

"I am thrilled that the Arden is doing my version of Bernstein's Candide," said Caird, "I had a wonderful time preparing it for the National Theatre in Britain, going back to the original novel and relishing Voltaire's extraordinary wit and human insight. Stephen Sondheim and Richard Wilbur helped me with new lyrics for critical moments in the libretto and the resulting show proved to be an enormous success with actors and audience alike."

Candide continues the Arden's tradition of staging great stories by great storytellers as it unites three master artists whose lives and work span 314 years. Although Voltaire published his novella in 1758 and the Bernstein-Caird production premiered in 1999, both the original and adaptation bridge the distances of time and place by using humor to raise social and political issues in a fictional world dominated by war, greed, and the unconscionable results of uninhibited power; a world eerily similar to our own.

According to Bernstein, "Voltaire's satire is international. It throws light on all the dark places, whether European or American. Of course, it's not an American book, but the matters with which it is concerned are as valid for us as any – and sometimes I think they are especially valid for us in America. Puritanical snobbery, phony moralism, inquisitorial attacks on the individual, brave-new-world optimism, essential superiority – aren't these all charges leveled against American society by our best thinkers? And they are also the charges made by Voltaire against his own society."

Currently, America is on the verge of a controversial Presidential election and in the midst of a war whose validity has split public opinion. Like Voltaire, Americans are debating moral politics, the appropriate roles of church and state, and the rights of the individual.

"Voltaire's original novel is rife with social commentary," says Director Nolen, "which makes the humor both entertaining and provocative. John's new book incorporates social and political questions Voltaire raised in 1758 that are still germane today. As a result, we have a classic story with modern resonance."

Adhering to Voltaire's scintillating dialogue and energetic social discourse, Bernstein and Caird's approach echoes the form of the original novella. Voltaire's Candide is a series of vignettes connected by narrative and tone, encompassing a wide range of genres including a high seas adventure, an epic romance, and a morality tale. Bernstein and Caird mirrored Voltaire's style by creating a piece that borrows elements from an array of musical theater styles.

The Arden's American regional theater premiere of Candide enthusiastically embraces Bernstein and Caird's musical reincarnation of the French satire. Nolen spent time with Caird in England refining the script from the National production before beginning rehearsals on his production in August.

"I am extremely excited by this new version of Candide," said Nolen. "It is funny, insightful, compelling and, because John returned to Voltaire's original novel, quite different from all previous versions. I have a great passion for musical theatre and an ongoing interest in adapting literature for the stage, so working with John on this most remarkable musical has been an extraordinary opportunity."

Bernstein's incandescent score paired with Caird's true adaptation of Candide illuminates Voltaire's original novella for a new generation of theatergoers. Welcome, friends, to the "best of all possible worlds!"

For more supplemental information about the Arden's production of Candide, download the Study Guide.