(Credit: Erica Furgiuele)

The Opera Company of Middlebury (OCM) in Vermont has announced a cinematic reimagining of Leonard Bernstein’s comic operetta “Candide.” The production will stream online as a ticketed event from June 15 to June 30 on the company’s YouTube channel.

OCM’s retelling, which includes narration by former Vermont Governor Jim Douglas, employs traditional theatrical elements alongside modern technology, such as drone footage, green-screen imagery, and rear projections.

After a successful run of OCM’s first digital opera, “Completing the Picture” (2020), the company’s creative team decided to once more explore the boundaries of opera’s potential.

Full COVID protocols under the guidance of the Vermont State Epidemiologist were in place during filming, with the orchestral and choral tracks laid down in late March at the Town Hall Theater. Arriving cast members quarantined for one week along with OCM Music Director, Michael Sakir. Singers performed live using earbuds to listen to the pre-recorded tracks while Sakir conducted.

Doug Anderson directed a cast including Middlebury College graduate, tenor Quinn Bernegger, baritone Joshua Jeremiah, and soprano Cree Carrico.