Candide

20 February – 14 March 2025

In the Joan Sutherland Theatre

Opera Australia

Opera

A hilarious satire set to dazzling music by West Side Story composer Leonard Bernstein.

A frilly, frothy, fantastical jaunt.

The Age

Useful information:

Take a journey through the best of all possible worlds

Take a wild and witty journey through a world gone mad! Candide is a brilliant satire about humankind’s capacity for mindless optimism, set to a remarkable score by famed West Side Story composer Leonard Bernstein.  

Bernstein’s genius is on display: from the exuberant overture, to the soprano showpiece Glitter and Be Gay and the moving finale Make Our Garden Grow. 

This new staging by award-winning director Dean Bryant was a smash hit upon its Melbourne premiere in 2024, with critics declaring it “the best of all possible productions” (Australian Book Review). 

Musical theatre renaissance man Eddie Perfect and the star of Hamilton Lyndon Watts reprise their roles in a production that delivers both first-rate comedy and the symphonic magic of Bernstein’s score. 

Presented by Opera Australia

Artist information

Conductor  Brett Weymark
Director  Dean Bryant
Set & Costume Designer  Dann Barber
Lighting Designer  Matt Scott
Choreographer  Freya List
 

Voltaire/Pangloss  Eddie Perfect
Candide  Lyndon Watts
Cunegonde  Annie Aitkin
Old Lady  Dominica Matthews
Maximilian  Euan Fistrovic Doidge
Paquette  Cathy-Di Zhang
Cacambo  Eddie Muliaumaseali’i
Governor/Vanderdendur  John Longmuir
Martin  Andrew Moran

Opera Australia Orchestra
Opera Australia Chorus

Plan your visit

You may also like

Carmen

26 Jul – 19 Sep 2025

Take an adrenaline-pumping ride through lust, jealousy and spectacle in this bold new production of an opera classic. When Carmen meets Don José, sparks fly. She won’t give up her freedom, and Don José won’t give up his girl. Their smouldering passion sets the stage for tragedy. This visceral opera is thrilling from the moment the curtain rises and the orchestra races away with the overture. It features the famous Toreador song, the Habanera and moving Flower song.

  • Opera
  • Opera Australia

Rusalka

23 Jul – 11 Aug 2025

A water nymph longs to live and love as a human and will sacrifice everything to get there. Superstar Australian soprano Nicole Car plays Rusalka. Rusalka longs for light, love and life on the surface. She’ll sacrifice anything to get it. But the water nymph can’t imagine what she’s giving up … or if the man she loves is worth it. Nicole Car is one of the most successful Australian sopranos in decades. Don’t miss her return home in her role debut as Rusalka.

  • Opera
  • Opera Australia

The Sleeping Beauty

21 Nov – 17 Dec 2025

Ten years after its spectacular premiere, David McAllister’s opulent production of The Sleeping Beauty returns to whisk you away into a magical realm of fairies and spells, good versus evil and a royal romance. Accompanied by Tchaikovsky’s enchanting score, The Sleeping Beauty is a dreamlike vision, evoking ballet’s golden era with traditional choreography and extravagant designs. The gilded set stands alongside over 300 bespoke costumes, wigs and fairy wings, designed by the award-winning Gabriela Tylesova.

  • Dance
  • The Australian Ballet

Checking availability