Candide, 1974

Candide started out at the Chelsea Theatre Company at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1973 (commonly referred to as “the Chelsea version”), moving to Broadway in 1974. Once there, it took home the Tony Award for Best Scenic Design, thanks to the co-design by Eugene Lee and Franne Lee, while Franne grabbed a second Tony for costume design. This was another hit for Ms. Musser’s lighting design, and sound was by Robert Maybaum. As the story unfolded, so did the stage, with sections falling from above, opening, closing, flying apart, or coming together. One of our readers says, “Hal Prince was willing to gut the theatre, cutting seating capacity significantly, to allow the immersive experience Eugene Lee designed to happen—memorable to this day.”