Show Synopsis:
Candide is the illegitimate nephew of Baron Thunder-ten-Tronck and lives in the castle with him, his wife, his son Maximillian, his daughter Cunegonde, and a prostitute named Paquette.  The younger generation of characters have learned all about happiness from the philosopher Dr. Pangloss, but Candide is exiled by declaring his love for Cunegonde, since he is her inferior. He gets caught up in the Bulgar Army's attack on the Baron's castle, in which the Baroness and Cunegonde die. Candide becomes a beggar but finds Dr. Pangloss, and the two travel with a merchant to Portugal. They are accused of starting a volcano that results in mass death and Pangloss is hanged. Candide goes to Paris and finds that Cunegonde is alive, but accidentally kills two people. Candide, Cunegonde, and her companion the Old Lady run away from the authorities and befriend Cacambo on their way to the New World. The governor of Montevideo falls in love with Cunegonde while Candide and Cacambo find Maximilian and Paquette in disguise, but Candide angers Maximilian with his feelings for Cunegonde. Candide and Cacambo get lost in Eldorado and then separate. He ends up on a ship with five deposed kings and a revived Pangloss who has encouraged them to live humbly. They go to Venice for the Carnival Festival and reunite with everyone from the Baron's castle, but Candide begins to have doubts about his life. They go to Westphalia and buy a farm, and after several days of silence, Candide says he will marry Cunegonde.	

Character:
Cunegonde, an aristocratic and beautiful teenage girl; does not have a lot of agency in her actions and defers to other people; loves Candide.

Song Context:
Cunegonde and the Old Lady have found themselves in Paris in a beautiful house shared by a Marquis and the Sultan. The Old Lady encourages Cunegonde to put on many jewels for a big party, despite her despair that she does not know if her love Candide is alive or dead.

Fun Facts:
1) This operetta was based on the Voltaire novel of the same name. 
2) The story of the operetta underwent major revisions between its premiere in 1956 and 1989. Lillian Hellman, the original bookwriter, did not want her book used in the 1989 Broadway revival. The summary provided here is based on Hugh Wheeler's book with Leonard Bernstein's music. 
3) In a Cheeky Chicago interview, Lauren Molina, Goodman Theater's Cunegonde in 2010, said that "after reading the novel, I realized there is so much more to the character than what meets the eye, or that I?ve seen portrayed. I?ve seen other actresses play Cunegonde, but they didn?t seem to give a real sense of who the character is."