Quantum Theatre

Candide

Recent Press

Quantum Theatre tackles Leonard Bernstein’s musical adaptation of Voltaire’s Candide

By Bill O'Driscoll, Pittsburgh City Paper, November 5, 2009
The stage for Quantum Theatre's production of Leonard Bernstein's Candide is oval, just like a racetrack. That's no coincidence, says director Karla Boos. The show is a fast-paced comic operetta. Read more...

Quantum Theatre stages Leonard Bernstein’s darkly satirical ‘Candide’

By Alice Carter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 5, 2009
For Karla Boos and Andres Cladera, the vacant repair shop of a former auto dealership is the best of all possible worlds in which to stage a musical. Read more...

Quantum stages Voltaire’s ‘Candide’ in a defunct Pittsburgh landmark

By Christopher Rawson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 5, 2009
Quantum's "Candide," opening tomorrow, is a bit of a twist, a well-known modern comic classic staged at a site we've been looking at for years, the electric blue auto palace on Baum Boulevard, the former Don Allen Auto City. Read more...

Cast

Andres Cladera

(Music Director/Conductor) is the Artistic Director of the Renaissance City Women's and Men’s Choirs, and the 2007 Outstanding Young Conductor of the Association of Choral Directors of America. Previous positions include Director of the Upper School Choral Program at the Ellis School and membership in the PROPEL Commission with the City of Pittsburgh and Mayor Luke Ravensthal. Andres has also taught at the Summer Music Program at the Julliard School, Chatham College, and Pittsburgh Opera. He has prior conducting experience with the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic, the Pittsburgh Early Music Consort, BASOTI, and the Third Presbyterian Choir. Awards include The Young Artist Encouragement Award at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, 1998 and First Place at The Luis Troccoli International Piano Competition, 1998. Andres holds a Master’s of Music degree in Orchestral Conducting from Carnegie Mellon University and Bachelor’s of Fine Arts degrees in Piano and Vocal Performance from the College of Charleston.

Taavon Gamble

(Maximilian) is very excited to make his Quantum debut in this production of Candide. He has performed on tour in Seussical, regionally in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Peter Pan (Theatre By The Sea), Viva Vegas! (Show Palace), The Producers, West Side Story, Dreamgirls, Aida, A Chorus Line (West Virginia Public Theatre), Joseph and Beauty and the Beast (Pittsburgh Musical Theatre), Chicago (Peach State Summer Theatre), CATS, Footloose, and 42nd Street (Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre). He is also featured in the DVD Rock Solid: Pilates by Jewel Elizabeth. A Point Park graduate, this spring he directs and choreographs Seussical at the Pittsburgh Playhouse.

Lisa Ann Goldsmith

(Alto/Ensemble) is thrilled to be joining Quantum Theatre for Candide, having played Cunegonde at the Berkshire Public Theatre many eons ago. Previous Pittsburgh credits include: The Comedy of Errors (Pittsburgh Public Theater); Eastburn Avenue, The Real Thing, Criminal Genius, and The Exonerated (The REP); The Shaughraun, Pride and Prejudice, and the upcoming Jane Eyre (Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre); Chicks With Dicks: Bad Girls on Bikes Doing Bad Things (Bricolage); Macbeth 3 (Unseam’d Shakespeare). Off-Broadway credits include: Savior (Manhattan Ensemble Theatre); A Taste of Freedom (Ellis Island), The London Cuckolds and A Doctor in Spite of Himself (Primary Stages); Valentino: The Musical (42nd Street Theatre); The Mute Canary (HERE Theatre). Regional credits include: Macbeth (Human Race Theatre Company); Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Tulsa Shakespeare in the Park); Agnes of God (Queens Theatre in the Park).

Jeffrey Gross

(Tenor/Ensemble) received his Music Education degree from Duquesne University, and started his performing career with the Pittsburgh Savoyards, where he has performed the roles of Edwin, Ralph, Marco, Nanki-Poo and Lord Tolloller. He has performed several leading roles with Undercroft Opera and Greensburg American Opera, and sings regularly with the Pittsburgh Opera Chorus. He is a frequent soloist with the Renaissance City Choirs and is the tenor soloist at the Mt. Lebanon Lutheran Church.

Jeffrey R. Howell

(Voltaire/Dr. Pangloss/Governor) is thrilled to be making his Quantum debut in Candide. Favorite roles at Pittsburgh CLO include Cogsworth in Beauty and the Beast, Dr. Kitchel in Bells Are Ringing and Andre in Chess. At City Theatre, Jeff appeared in Worksong, Red Herring and the world premiere of Christopher Durang’s Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge. At Pittsburgh Public Theater Jeff was seen in Man of La Mancha and Oedipus the King. At St. Vincent Summer Theatre in The Twentieth Century and A Bench in the Sun. Television credits include All My Children, The Young and the Restless and Equal Justice. Films include Hoffa, The Dark Half, and The Cemetery Club.

Nicole Kaplan

(Cunegonde) is thrilled to Glitter and be Gay in her hometown. Nicole earned her BFA at Carnegie Mellon University, and has performed locally as a soloist with the Pittsburgh Pops, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Ballet, and Pittsburgh CLO. Nicole starred in Disney's Finding Nemo the Musical as Nemo and The Little Mermaid as Ariel. Other favorite performances include The Wild Party (Nadine), BARK! (Chanel, LA cast) and Camelot with Jeremy Irons at The Hollywood Bowl.

Laurie Klatscher

(Old Woman) is happy to be back at it with Quantum, where she’s performed in Closer and Dog Face, which was also done at Festival de Otoño, Madrid. Laurie has performed locally with City Theatre, the Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre, Jewish Theatre of Pittsburgh, The Public and Playhouse Rep. In New York, she has performed with La Mama Etc, York Theatre and Primary Stages. Laurie is in the movie If it Ain’t Broke, Break It opposite Richard Kind, which will be premiering at The Pittsburgh Film Festival. She is in the TV pilot Munhall. Her recent turn in Off the Record has fueled her sense of silliness.

Lovell McFadden

(Bass/Ensemble) is thrilled to make his Quantum Theatre debut. Lovell hails from Baltimore, Maryland and is a 2009 graduate of Point Park University's Conservatory of Performing Arts. Past credits include Ragtime, Streets of America, and Thou Shalt Not, with the Conservatory, The Somewhat True Tales of Robin Hood and The Emperor's New Clothes for The Pittsburgh Playhouse Jr, and To Kill A Mockingbird with Primestage.

Erica S. Olden

(Soprano/Ensemble) is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Music, with further studies at San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Erica has performed with many ensembles, including Opera Theater of Pittsburgh, Apollo’s Fire, The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra, Solano Symphony, Berkeley Opera, Golden Gate Opera, Walnut Creek Opera, Bay Area Summer Opera Theater, Lake George Opera, Opera Academy of California, North Bay Opera, Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra, and The River City Brass Band. She is a frequent soloist with Pittsburgh’s Renaissance City Choirs. Recent roles include: Antonia in Les contes d’Hoffman, La Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi, Magda in The Consul, The Witch in Hansel and Gretel, Miss Todd in Old Maid and the Thief, Orfeo, The Sorceress in Dido and Aneas and Aunt March in the San Francisco premiere of Mark Adamo’s Little Women.

Robyne Parrish

(Paquette) is so glad to be back at Quantum after Mouth To Mouth last season. Other Pittsburgh and surrounding companies include: Pittsburgh REP, Bricolage and the Theatre Factory. Off-Broadway credits include The Times (York Theatre), Sherlock Holmes: The Early Years (New York Music Festival, 2007 TAM award winner), Take Me Along (York Theatre), Welcome to Our City (Mint), Me and My Girl, Oh Lady!Lady!, and Paris (Musicals Tonight!), Uncle Vanya, Much Ado, Ideal Husband, Tartuffe (Sonnet Rep). Regional credits include: Maine Public, The Arden, and ArtsPower National Tour. Post-production work If It Ain't Broke, Break It (Godse-Thacker productions). Robin has a BFA from the University of the North Carolina School of the Arts, has studied at the Royal National Theatre, London and is currently earning an MFA at Point Park in Theatre. She is the founder and executive director of Sonnet Rep in NYC.

John Wascavage

(Candide) is making his Quantum debut in Candide. Currently a senior at Point Park University, his recent credits include: Posner in The History Boys (Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre); Etienne in Can-Can, Ensemble/Leo Frank understudy in Parade (Point Park University); Toad in A Year With Frog and Toad (Pittsburgh Playhouse Jr.); and Male Swing in The Spirit of Christmas (RWS and Associates). For my parents.

Orchestra

Musical director Andres Cladera has assembled an intimate chamber orchestra for this production of Candide. Click below to read more about them...

Kira Bokalders (Clarinet) has performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, Opera Theater of Pittsburgh, Wheeling Symphony and McKeesport Symphony since earning her Masters in Clarinet Performance from Carnegie Mellon University in 2008. Originally from Ft. Lauderdale, Kira earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Florida. Her teachers include Thomas Thompson, Mitchell Estrin and Phil Shapiro. Most recently, Kira performed at the Aspen Music Festival and School this summer.

Emily Hawkins (Percussion) is a senior at Carnegie Mellon University studying percussion performance. Her teachers include Paul Evans and Timothy Adams. A native of Pittsburgh, Emily attended CAPA High School and Rogers Middle School for the Creative and Performing Arts. She is also a piano technician studying with Peter Stumpf, piano technician for the Pittsburgh Symphony.

Jessica Hsu (Violin) holds both Bachelor's and Master's degrees in violin performance from Carnegie Mellon University. Her teachers include Mischa Lefkowitz and Cyrus Forough. She has participated in several music festivals and master classes throughout the United States and Europe. At sixteen she won the Young Artist award of the California Music Teachers' Association. This past summer, she was invited to perform Beethoven's Triple Concerto with the Fox Trio, soloing with orchestras in Colombia and Peru.

Regina Ketter (Viola) has performed with Alia Musica, Chatham Baroque, Bach and the Baroque, the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, and many other groups. She is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University with a BFA and MFA in viola, where she studied with Yitzak Schotten and Atar Arad. She has played on numerous popular recordings and performed with the likes of Smokey Robinson, Harry Connick Jr., and Kansas. She currently teaches strings in Mt. Lebanon.

Sam McUmber (Pianist) is a 2006 graduate of Carnegie Mellon University. Sam is collaborating with Sean Jeremy Palmer in composing the scores for Great White and Ellen Craft, two new operas which have been recently workshopped and performed by Bricolage Theater Company in Pittsburgh and Opera at Home in NYC, respectively. Sam also provided musical direction/accompaniment for the Midnight Radio Serial Smackdown series this summer at Bricolage Theater, and is very excited to be a part of Candide.

Arthur Moncrieffe (Cello) is from St. Andrew, Jamaica, and has been playing cello since age 11. He has studied with Dr. William Gary Hardie at Baylor University. He has performed with the Allen Philharmonic, the Las Colinas/Garland Symphony, the Mesquite Symphony, and the San Angelo Symphony as a freelance professional. He also performs and teaches double bass and viola da gamba.

Tara Yaney (Flute) is the principal piccolo player of the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra and the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra. She has performed with the Youngstown Symphony, the Canton Symphony, the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh, the International Chamber Ensemble in Rome, Italy, the Ohio Light Opera Orchestra, and numerous pit orchestras in the Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Baltimore and Pittsburgh areas. She earned her Bachelors degree in physics from the University of Pennsylvania, and then went on to earn her Bachelors degree in music from the Peabody Conservatory of Music of the Johns Hopkins University.

Locations & Directions

Former Don Allen Auto City, corner of Baum and S. Aiken
5315 Baum Boulevard
Pittsburgh, PA 15224

Visit Google Maps to plot your route.

Free parking is available on-site in the lot behind the Auto City. Enter from South Aiken and look for the Q.

The Port Authority has many routes servicing east end neighborhoods. Current schedules, fares and routes for public transit are available from the Port Authority of Allegheny County. You can also plan a trip by visiting Google Transit.

View Larger Map

Age Appropriateness

Suitable for high school aged students and older.

Accessibility

Please call Quantum at 412.697.2929 for more information.

Nearby Dinner Options

Café Sam offers a special prix fixe menu that follows Candide’s travels across the globe. For more information, visit the Café Sam website. To reserve, call Dan or Mary at 412.621.2000.

There are also many nearby dining options in the Bloomfield area. Click here for a map of local restaurants.

Buy tickets online or call 412.394.3353.

Performances

Press/Opening Night
Friday November 6 at 8pm with post-show champagne reception

Roundtable Review
Sunday November 8 at 7pm with post-show discussion

Regular Run Schedule
Wednesdays thru Saturdays at 8pm
Sundays at 7pm

Please note that there is NO LATE SEATING for this performance

Tickets

Wed, Thur, Sun: $28
Fri, Sat (evening): $32
Opening Night: $40

There are a limited number of $16 student tickets available for select performances (with valid ID).

Members of TIX for Teachers, the Mattress Factory, and WYEP are eligible for discounted tickets. Receive $3 off with a valid ID—be sure to mention when ordering.

Please note: these offers are not valid in combination with other discounts.