The Menier Chocolate Factory’s latest festive offering will come in the form of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide and will open at the London Bridge venue on 2 December following previews from 22 November.
Directed by Top Hat’s Matthew White, who has worked on many of the venue’s previous Christmas musicals including Little Shop Of Horrors and Sweet Charity, the production tells the story of optimist Candide as he journeys through anguish, happiness, loss and love from Westphalia to the far reaches of the New World.
Adapted by Hugh Wheeler from the novel by Voltaire, Candide features choreography by Singin’ In The Rain star Adam Cooper, whose credits as a choreographer include Carousel at the Savoy theatre and Grand Hotel at the Donmar Warehouse, designs by Lend Me A Tenor – The Musical’s Paul Farnsworth, and sound and lighting design by 2013 Olivier Award nominees Gareth Owen and Paul Anderson.
The double Olivier Award-winning musical, which received its last major London revival at the National Theatre in 1999 starring Daniel Evans and Simon Russell Beale, features hit songs including Glitter And Be Gay, Make Our Garden Grow, The Best Of All Possible Worlds and Quiet.
Following the success of the Menier Chocolate Factory’s previous festive musicals, which have included Sunday In the Park With George, La Cage Aux Folles, A Little Night Music and, most recently, Merrily We Roll Along, which transferred to the West End earlier this year, Candide plays at the London Bridge venue until 22 February.