CYRANO DE BERGERAC

So, this is our famous theater!

It is a show within a show within real and made-up history. Like Colleen Danaher, the stage manager at Pasadena Playhouse, said, “This is an iconic play!” However, if you’re not into poetry or lines said in rhyming couplets, don’t leave and get ready to get schooled and be highly entertained. Cyrano de Bergerac has been done on television, countless movies and most recently a musical. Cyrano is mad popular. The real-life Cyrano and his literary alter-ego are practically the same man. They were soldiers, poets and excellent at fencing.

The play opens in Paris, 1640, inside the Hôtel de Bourgogne. People come in to see the not-so-great performance of Montfleury (a talented Jonathan Slavin does well in playing an untalented actor). Everyone from the lowest of the totem pole to the absurdly wealthy take a seat and wait. A very handsome cadet, Christian de Neu Villette (the very talented Will Hochman) arrives with a visibly drunken soldier Lignère (Larry Powell), with his Bob Marley looking dreds. Christian hopes Lignère can tell him the name of the beautiful woman he loves so “deeply.” Lignère quickly advises the young cadet to forget about the lovely Roxane (the beautiful Rosa Salazar). She is set to marry the nobleman, Viscount Valvert (Sawyer Patterson). It’s unclear why the power-hungry aristocrat De Guiche (Michael Nathanson is excellent) who is already engaged, sends Valvert to marry Roxane. Unless, he’s trying to make it into a throuple situation, the root of the issue is unclear.

As the play begins, so does Cyrano’s (Chukwudi Iwuji excels in this role) shenanigans. He comes from out of the shadows demanding that Montfleury get off the stage immediately. The audience leaves before it gets really rowdy. In between shooing off the mediocre actor, Cyrano duels with Valvert, while conjuring from the top of his head a poem belittling the opponent. Cyrano is hopeful when Roxane’s gentlewoman (E.M. Davis) informs him that Roxane would like to see him privately. He believes this is the moment he can confess his love. However, plans are quickly dashed when she confesses her feelings for Christian, instead. After he swears to watch over him, Roxane leaves and Cyrano is broken hearted again.

Meanwhile, baker and fellow wordsmith Ragueneau (the vivacious Kimberly Scott) gathers her students together for a lemon tart baking session. In the middle of the lesson, comes Cyrano who is victorious from last night’s fight. As he re-tells his heroic venture, Christian stands by insulting Cyrano’s nose. He doesn’t say anything original but Cyrano fights back. He kicks everybody out and comes towards Christian. He secretly tells him that Roxane loves him. He’s happy, until Cyrano says that Roxane expects daily letters from him. He chokes. Cyrano devises a plan what he will tell   Christian what to say to Roxane. Christian chokes again. Cyrano takes over and does it too well.

Iwuji excels as a weather-beaten soldier but eloquent poet. He doesn’t need or uses a prosthetic nose. The other characters remind him and the audience of his oversized nose. Instead of whining, Cyrano cracks jokes about it. His insults are more on-point and hilarious than from the offenders.

A great nose is the banner of a great man, a generous heart, a towering spirit, an expansive soul – such as I unmistakably am, and such as you dare not to dream of being. 

Talk about a comeback! Cyrano handles his own on those who go against him. But when he’s with Roxane, he becomes softer. He completely lets his guard down and becomes vulnerable around her. Towards Christian, he is more of a big brother type, who looks over the young lamb with care and caution. Hochman is more than a pretty face. Christian is fearless and a great soldier. He also becomes susceptible whenever Roxane is around, too, but is unable to voice it. Cyrano does it better and Christian is painfully aware of it.

Scott is a delight to watch as Madame Ragueneau. She commands attention effortlessly and the men appreciate her greatly. She encourages the soldiers to stay strong. She even comes in disguise bringing food and water, which are sorely lacking. Salazar gives her Roxane an edge, which is not expected from a pure, virtuous heroine. She is highly demanding when she forces Christian to recite his “words” from his passionate letters. She feels let down when he refuses and instead wishes to be intimate.

Michael Nathanson absorbs his role as the evil De Guiche with rich, superb villainy. He does whatever is necessary to be Roxane’s one and only, even though he already has a fiancé. Mike Donahue does a first-rate job in directing this classic tale of a hide-and-seek romance. The excellent sword fighting sequences belongs to Rachel Lee Flesher who also orchestrates the incensed scenes Roxane shares with both Christian and Cyrano, respectively. Barry Livingston (from the Emmy-nominated and Golden Globe award winning 1960s series, My Three Sons) shines brightly as the theater owner, who gets paid well from Cyrano after clearing the establishment and the priest who marries Christian and Roxane. I would like to say thank you to Kila Packett, who plays the fencing referee and the soldier guarding the soldier’s home, who along with other actors, dropped their pants and showed his colorful boxer briefs. It was a beautiful sight! The show is long but definitely worth staying around to see what happens to these lyrical bunch of rebel rousers continuing their literary journey.

DETAILS

WHAT: CYRANO DE BERGERAC
WHERE: Pasadena Playhouse
LOCATION: 39 S. El Molino Avenue in Pasadena
WHEN: Thursday, Sept. 26th at 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 27th at 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 28th at 2 and 8 p.m., ends Sunday, Sept. 29th 2 and 7 p.m.
HOW MUCH: $40–$117
RUNNING TIME: 2 Hours, 45 Minutes. One 15 Minute Intermission
RESERVATIONS: Log on to www.pasadenaplayhouse.org

NOW YOU KNOW!

• Cyrano’s full name is Hercule Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac. He died on July 28, 1655. He was 36.
• The real Cyrano did have a big nose, but in the play, it’s more exaggerated.
• Henri Le Bret, wrote de Bergerac’s biography. The origin of his death is unknown. However …
• The rumor is that his brother Abel de Cyrano was involved.
• Roxane is based on de Bergerac’s cousin Catherine de Bergerac. However, there was no love triangle among Cyrano, Roxane and Christian.
• The Baron Christian of Neuvillette fought alongside de Bergerac and married his cousin.