It's a story as old as time: Star-crossed lovers kept apart by distance and circumstances. But that doesn't equal tragedy in a new play on stage at the Goodman Theatre.

That's because the title character – Candide –  has an optimism that just won't quit. His joie de vivre is at the heart of Mary Zimmerman's adaption of Candide, the Voltaire literary classic turned Leonard Bernstein Broadway musical. The Tony Award winner says the level of people's familiarity with Candide was a challenge to her usual adeptness in adaptation.