Candide (Porchlight Music Theatre) – 9/21/08

I commend Porchlight for the "out of the box" approach it has taken with their last two shows: "Nine", in its minimalism, was I thought a stylistic triumph for the company, and for this production of "Candide", these guys have smartly chosen the condensed, vaudevillian that Hal Prince presented on Broadway in the 1970s. This is the version that much better suits Porchlight's resources. However, despite some witty touches, the ensemble work here needs to be cleaned up a bit. And although much of the main players possess great voices, some of them have yet to mine deeper access their characters' comic and dramatic potential.

Rating: **1/2 (out of *****)