Why Candide?

Posted by Artistic Director Robert Falls


A number of years ago, Mary Zimmerman came to me with an idea just beginning to take shape in her mind: a new production of the classic Leonard Bernstein musical Candide. She had been introduced to the piece by several of her friends and had already spent some time studying the various versions of the show that had been produced since its Broadway premiere in 1956. She responded immediately to Bernstein’s score, widely considered to be his best creation for the musical stage; but she felt that the adaptations of Voltaire’s novel, each admirable in its way, somehow missed the singularly pointed satiric humor of the original. She proposed the creation of a new book for the piece, one which included many of the strengths of the previous adaptations while remaining truer to the unique spirit of Voltaire’s text. After a series of meetings with the various representatives of these artists, Mary received permission to create her own version of Candide.

By that time, Mary was hard at work on other projects, chief among them a series of three highly successful productions for the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Her work in this sphere only added to her enthusiasm for a reworked Candide and last fall, prior to her rehearsals for the third of her Met commitments, she began actively working with musical director Doug Peck (a longtime aficionado of the show) on this long-awaited project. As I write this, Mary is downstairs in the rehearsal room fashioning this new production with the singular insight and imagination that has infused such disparate pieces as The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, The Odyssey and Pericles. Like those works, Candide is essentially the story of a journey: a young man, cast out by the family who adopted him as a child, travels the world to experience a variety of calamities, each of which tests the contention of his mentor, the venerable Dr. Pangloss, that all things happen for the best in this “best of all possible worlds.” Although the wanderings of Candide, Cunegonde and the others that populate Voltaire’s story are described with sly humor, the basic questions that lie beneath these absurdly comic sequences are very serious ones indeed: How can we deal with the disasters that befall us without surrendering to crippling despair, or worse, complete paralysis? Can we maintain a sense of optimism in a world that often seems randomly cruel? How is survival itself possible in an environment that often gleefully refutes Pangloss’s hopeful axiom?

Such heady themes are rarely explored in Broadway musicals—but the deft humor of Voltaire’s original, the enduring relevance of his themes, and Bernstein’s brilliantly multifaceted score have made Candide a phenomenon of the American theater, with such diverse writers as Lillian Hellman and Stephen Sondheim lending their distinctive visions to half a dozen versions of the show. I am thrilled that Mary is now bringing her unique artistry to this funny, insightful, and richly theatrical work, and I’m happier still that Candide will launch a season during which we celebrate a decade of work in our Dearborn Street home. Throughout this season, our Onstage magazine will feature a series of articles allowing you to reflect with us on some of the glories of the past ten years here, successes made possible in large part by our state-of-the art facility.

Here’s to a remarkable past decade at the Goodman Theatre—and to the many, many achievements to come.

Robert Falls
Artistic Director, Goodman Theatre

We hope you are as excited as we are about Candide! Please share your questions and comments with us below.

First Day of Rehearsal

Posted by Lauren Molina, Cunegonde in Candide

My first day at Goodman Theatre.

I couldn’t be more excited to step into the rehearsal space of the Goodman Theatre and begin my journey as Cunegonde. From the first time I heard Bernstein’s luscious score to CANDIDE as a child, I wanted to be a part of the show. Cunegonde is a dream role in and of itself, singing the most glorious music ever written. But to add the fact that Mary Zimmerman is directing and rewriting the book, Doug Peck is musical directing, and that we are in one of the most creatively conducive environments for smart, edgy theatre, here at the Goodman, I am truly feeling spoiled as an actor.

The first day we had a meet and greet with the incredibly talented cast, creatives, and many of the staff who work at the Goodman, from marketing to box office to education. I immediately felt a sense of strong community within this world.

Mary Zimmerman gave me a big hug upon arrival. Her warmth and quirky laugh is infectious. She always works with her old dog, Beary, by her side. I was pleased to see an animal in the rehearsal space. It provides a sense of calm and grounded-ness somehow. She said that when she worked at the MET the opera singers didn’t mind the dog around.

Mary gave a speech about her rehearsal process, in that she writes pages of the script as she goes, handing new pages to the actors each day. This makes each day exciting, but also can be overwhelming and stressful. After you read your scene through once or twice, Mary stages it. So, with script in hand you are forced to make strong and immediate character choices, sometimes falling on your face.

Mary recollected Racine’s quote, “I’ve just finished a new play, and all I have left to do is write the dialogue.” She feels this way about her process.

We were told to read the Voltaire novel CANDIDE as our only preparation. I also worked on the songs with my voice teacher, Candace Goetz, and two coaching sessions with Doug Peck, prior to our first rehearsal in Chicago.

I have seen and heard so many different versions of Cunegonde, from very operatic sounding, where even though they’re singing in English, you can’t understand the words, to the Lincoln Center Lonny Price production with the perky, pinging Kristin Chenoweth being…well, Kristin Chenoweth.

Because of the inconsistencies in character from varying previous productions, I didn’t have a strong identity or perception of who Cunegonde was as a person. I knew I had to use this rehearsal process to make some real, honest discoveries. This is difficult because my impulse is to always go for a joke, when I know that playing the truth is a better choice.

Mary continued her speech to make the following points:

• CANDIDE has not typically been a critical success, yet it is a machine of delight.
• The Voltaire novel is a difficult, episodic original text. Mary feels that CANDIDE has been done in ways that are too cartoonish/broad in a way, given the sophistication of the music and lyrics.
• This inconsistency therefore propagates that we shouldn’t take the novel seriously, because of certain tonal things about the novel.
• It is a hypocrisy in CANDIDE, in the end, when Candide finally says “life sucks,” “man cannot exist in harmony” then breaking into the most beautiful harmony of “Make Our Garden Grow.”
• It is important to recognize that this novel, though written in the 1700s is strikingly contemporary. The American optimism gives an excuse for nothing to change. It is always contemporary to satirize power and corruption in politics and the clergy.
• The text at its core is difficult. It is not joking about rape, but joking about people who in the face of anything insist on keeping their same point of view. What’s funny is not the tragedy, but the held optimism while tragedy constantly falls on these people.

We learned a dance to “Easily Assimilated” and then sang. I love how every voice in this production is unique and when we sing as an ensemble everyone’s voice is distinguishable.

I’m feeling like this show is going to be really awesome.

When the Magic Happens

Posted by Christina Nieves (Novice in The Sins of Sor Juana)

I am playing the Novice in The Sins of Sor Juana. I love this play because Juana's journey reminds me that the road of an artist is sometimes tedious and lonely, but it is also joyful and necessary.

We have spent the last three weeks exploring this beautiful play, and tech is almost here. Tech is the most exciting time of the process for me because it’s when the magic happens.

My favorite moments are sitting in the dark theater watching the actors discover the space, watching the set come together and the lights focus, watching the paint dry—watching it all come together. I am always humbled by this collaboration.

Tech is especially exciting this time because I can’t wait to put on my nun costume. Sister Act is one of my favorite movies of all time, and I won't be able to resist the urge to break out in song: Ain’t no mountain high enough, ain’t no river wide enough...

Whoopi Goldberg, I'm comin for ya!

See you in the theater,

Christina

Why The Sins of Sor Juana?

Posted by Artistic Director Robert Falls

Although she is relatively unknown to non-Spanish-speaking readers, Juana Inés de la Cruz is one of the most compelling figures in all of Spanish literature, and one of the most revered authors in the development of Mexican culture. A self-taught Latin scholar, and a talented writer and musician, Juana was sent at a young age from the small village of San Miguel Nepantla to Mexico City, where her intellectual prowess (and her reputed beauty) attracted the patronage of the wife of the viceroy Antonio Sebastián de Toledo.

Although Juana thrived at the palace, the conventions of her time forced her to enter a religious order to further pursue her intellectual interests. She took the name Sor Juana and spent an uncomfortable time with the ascetic Carmelites, then joined the more welcoming Hieronymites, with whom she flourished. Sor Juana wrote poetry and treatises which eloquently defended the study of science and the education of women. Though these compositions are now considered to be among the most important in the Golden Age of Spanish literature, her work offended the church hierarchy. Abandoned by her powerful mentors, she ultimately withdrew from her literary pursuits, sequestered herself in an isolated room in the convent and took to writing religious vows in her own blood, signing them “Juana, the worst of all.” At the age of 46, she perished in a cholera epidemic, her work largely ignored by her contemporaries.

The story of this remarkable woman has spawned an equally remarkable play, Karen Zacarías’ The Sins of Sor Juana. Far from a standard docudrama, Zacarías has reimagined the life and work of Sor Juana in a soaring dramatic celebration, filled with the passion, wit, romance and rigorous intellect that has made Sor Juana a true legend. Guiding this production will be Resident Artistic Associate Henry Godinez, a longtime champion of this play, who memorably directed the Goodman world premiere of Zacarías’ Mariela in the Desert. Henry has chosen The Sins of Sor Juana to be the centerpiece of our 5th Latino Theatre Festival, which commemorates the bicentennial of Mexican Independence and the centennial of the Mexican Revolution with a series of readings, presentations by local Latino theater companies and special events at Millennium Park as well as at the Goodman. This festival will feature another landmark event: the U.S. premiere of Cuba’s celebrated Teatro Buendía, which has received praise around the world for its disciplined, highly physical theatrical style.

The Sins of Sor Juana and the Latino Theatre Festival provide a multifaceted ending to a Goodman season that is notable, I think, for its range and variety—from the delights of Animal Crackers to the searing insights of Eugene O’Neill and Samuel Beckett, and featuring distinguished new plays by Dael Orlandersmith, Brett C. Leonard and Rebecca Gilman. As with all of our work at Goodman Theatre, I hope that you have found productions that have challenged you, provoked you and entertained you. As always, we thank you for your support and patronage—and we look forward to seeing you next season.

Robert Falls
Artistic Director

We hope you are as excited as we are about The Sins of Sor Juana! Please share your questions and comments with us, below.

An Equation for a Great Show

Posted by Austin Savage, Observer for the Society of Directors & Choreographers for The Good Negro

Hello Goodman blog followers! The Good Negro has just completed its tech week and we are ready to start fine-tuning the show for our May 10th opening. Since the beginning of my participation in the show, I have observed a few interesting things that feel compelled to share with you:

1. Ever since the first day of rehearsal, director Chuck Smith has yet to remove what he calls his “working cap.” This ever-present cap has become integral to my image of Chuck. The equation is essentially: Thoughtful Director + Hat = Chuck Smith.

2. Tracey Scott Wilson is SUPER-photogenic. Her headshot on page 8 of the Goodman’s OnStage magazine is pretty cool. She writes even better than she photographs.

3. I find that I am able to identify with the vices of my heroes much more easily than I identify with their virtues. Their vices give me confidence that my virtues are as attainable to me as their virtues were to them. That gives me hope for not only for myself, but for humanity on a larger scale.

4. This cast can act. As my friend Russo would say, “They got some chops.”

5. The biggest difference between my previous theatrical experiences and this one is the amount of care that has been involved in this production. Every person I have encountered in this production cares. This is the first project in my burgeoning career in which the amount of sincerity and genuine passion for the piece is apparent in every aspect of the show, from the soles of the shoes to the powerful performances on stage. I hope you can all make it out to the show.

Hoping to one day see the top of Chuck’s head in person,
Austin Savage

“Partna” or “Partner”

Posted by Terrence Mosley (Assistant Director of The Good Negro)

Intimacy among men has always been a hot-button issue. Most don’t usually want to admit that we need each other. Most of us don’t want to admit that we need help—period.

“I don’t need directions…I know exactly where I’m going”…Right.

I’ve been thinking about this issue during The Good Negro rehearsal process. We were sitting around the table working on a scene that dealt with the deep relationship between two male characters, when our director Chuck Smith stopped the actors and proclaimed, “When I was growing up, I had Partna! He was the guy that had my back no matter what.”

I retorted, “Nowadays, people have partners.” The table laughed at my wit (at least that’s how I remember it), but Chuck’s comment got me thinking.

It seems that that the bond between men was more evident—and maybe even stronger—50 years ago. What has changed in the span of 50 years to make intimacy between men considered negative? I'm not saying that men ran around hugging each other. Maybe men did not put their feelings on display or express them publicly all the time, but when you look at the photographs of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ralph Abernathy, you could see true intimacy and trust between them. These men had a deep rapport…they were “partnas,” as Chuck Smith would say. They held each other up. They weren’t afraid to touch, to pray, to celebrate, to cry, to be with each other and to show the full extent of their friendship in public.

Now, men are forced to hide their intimacy in order to keep social order, sometimes even in their own lives. As more GBLT Americans come to the forefront and become part of the fabric of our everyday lives, straight men seem to be becoming more fearful of expressing intimacy—physical or otherwise.

I ask: “So what if two male friends hug? Does their hug mean anything other than that these two men have a strong bond? Does it mean that they are more than friends? And if they are more than friends, why does it matter if they’re partnas or partners?

I think The Good Negro does an excellent job of showing intimate moments between men…something we all need to become more comfortable with.

The Life-Changing Minute

Posted by Austin Savage, Observer for the Society of Directors & Choreographers for The Good Negro

I was sitting at home in El Paso, Texas, when a mysterious phone number flashed across my cell phone. I normally choose to avoid answering unknown numbers due to the fact that they tend to be solicitous calls for magazine subscriptions or automated voices relating to student loan payments. However, the prefix listed it as a Chicago number, and I decided to answer in the hope that it may have something to do with the fact that I had recently applied to be an Observer for the Society of Directors & Choreographers for the Goodman Theatre production of The Good Negro. The call went like this:

ME: (Shakily) Hello?

KINDLY VOICE: Hello? Is this Austin Savage?

ME: (Equally frightened/hopeful) Yes.

KINDLY VOICE: This is Chuck Smith.

ME: (Trying to play it cool after immediately recognizing the name thanks to online research leading up to my application essay, including this clip.) How are you doing, sir?

KINDLY VOICE: I’m doing fine. I was calling to see if you were still interested in working on The Good Negro. Are you still interested?

ME: (Scrooge-on-Christmas-morning-giddy) Yes, sir! Absolutely! Yes, very much, most interested. Definitely interested, sir. Uh...yes. Thank you, sir.

KINDLY VOICE: You don’t have to call me “sir.” Just call me Chuck.

ME: (Afraid of already blowing it) Sorry, sir...Chuck! Sorry Chuck.

KINDLY VOICE: Alright, I’ll let them know and we’ll get all the arrangements taken care of. You should get your contract soon and I look forward to meeting to you.

ME: (Officially catatonic) Me too.

KINDLY VOICE: Take care.

ME: Me too.

That was it. In less than one minute I was going to be working at the Goodman. (I had actually interviewed for an internship at the Goodman this past fall. I got the call about the interview while working at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and I flew back home, then hopped into a rental car with my girlfriend the next day to make the 24-hour drive to the Goodman for the interview. I didn’t get that gig, but karma and work ethic eventually get you where you want to go!)

Unfortunately, there was no one around to immediately share the good news with, so I just jumped around the room like Tommy Lasorda after Gibby’s homer in ’88 (for those of you who don’t know or have forgotten, check out the 9:15 mark).

We are nearly two weeks in to our rehearsal process, but that abundant enthusiasm has still not left me—I’m at one of the greatest theaters in the world with an incredible director, talented cast and incredibly talented playwright! As required by the SD&C I am “observing this process in order to further develop myself as an emerging young professional.” So far, Goodman Theatre has held true to its claim that it is “what great theater should be.” It’s hard not to be continually excited when you find yourself surrounded by intelligence, inspiration and artistic sincerity on a daily basis, and it is my hope that I can take these lessons learned here and apply them to my own start up theater company back home.

I am thankful for the opportunity provided to me through The Good Negro and I hope to share the journey with you in further posts.

Take care!
Austin Savage