Friday, April 29, 2005
Alicia Gian, Garden City senior, sings during Candide. Gian, who plays the Old Lady, nurses Candide to health after he is flogged by the Grand Inquisitor’s underlings and reunites Candide with his lost love, Cunegonde. The musical debuts at 7:30 p.m. in the Crafton-Preyor Theatre at Murphy Hall.
Maybe Brandon Snook should’ve voted for John Kerry.
For not believing in original sin, George W. Bush — portrayed as the Grand Inquisitor — orders Snook to be flogged and his professor to be hung in front of a cheering crowd.
This is a scene from Leonard Bernstein’s “Candide,” a 1956 musical adaptation of Voltaire’s literary classic. Tim Ocel, associate professor of opera, modernized the musical for today’s political climate.
“It just seemed very timely,” Ocel said. “When Bernstein wrote the piece it was a big reaction to the House of Un-American Activities. This is a big reaction to Bush administration.”
The House Committee of Un-American Activities was most famously known for trying to suppress communist propaganda from American films.
Leonard Bernstein, who also wrote “West Side Story,” was blacklisted by the committee.
The Grand Inquisitor, or President Bush, sentences two people in tan hoods to death.
The two people represent Abu Ghraib prisoners being punished and the process of blurring of church and state, Ocel said.
Despite voting for Bush in the fall elections, Snook, Richardson, Texas senior, takes the musical for what it is — satire.
“People thought I would have a problem with it,” Snook said. “It is what it is. It’s just like ‘Animal Farm’ but making fun of political systems of today.”
The tale of “Candide,” which was written by French writer Voltaire in the 1700s, follows the adventures of the young protagonist Candide. Candide was expelled from his home for falling in love with his foster sister, Cunegonde, played by Akiko Imakawa, Overland Park graduate student.
This performance of Candide should inspire the audience to take an active role in the world, said Kate Giessel, Larned junior, who plays Voltaire in the musical.
Throughout the musical, Candide’s unbridled optimism diminishes as reality sets in.
“It’s my hope that the audience will leave energized,” Giessel said. “And ready to take off the rose-colored glasses and take a look around.”
— Edited by Megan Claus
- WHAT: Candide
- WHEN: 7:30 p.m. April 29, 30 and May 5, 6 and 7; 2:30 p.m. May 1.
- WHERE: Crafton-Preyer Theatre in Murphy Hall
- COST: $18 for general public, $10 with KUID, $17 for senior citizens and KU faculty
Source: KU Theatre
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