Not a great production, though I expect it will improve as they settle in. Saturday night ended at 10:50pm.
On a side note: most people probably think that Cyrano is a fictional character, but not so. At several points in the play he mentions the moon, and a trip to the moon. For $0.99 you can grab Cyrano's A TRIP TO THE MOON for your Kindle - scifi novel that predates Jules Verne by two centuries.
http://www.amazon.com/Cyrano-Bergeracs-Voyage-Illustrated-ebook/dp/B001PO5UFU/ref=sr_1_7?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1347800508&sr=1-7&keywords=cyrano+de+bergerac+kindle+books
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/30/08
Are any of the obscenities spoken by Cyrano? That would seem to me to be a major gaff. He is supposed to be the noble and pure one, a good soldier and a good wit, but not as pedestrian a man as those around him. If he is trash talking like everyone else, he hardly has the stature he assumes in the original.
He does utter an obscenity at least once, as I remember. Also, the character didn't seem too noble and pure to me. He seemed rough around the edges, a bit of a hothead, etc.
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/30/08
He is the kind of hothead who sacrifices himself to save the life of a beautiful young man loved his Roxanne but it is a noble hothead action. I may just have to see this to determine if I can tolerate an anachronistic translation approach. I'm thinking probably not...
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
Cyrano is based on a historical character from the town of Bergerac in France. I'm sure that great dramatic liberties were taken when Rostand dramatized him, though.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
Some information about the historic Cyrano:
Cyrano de Bergerac (Writer)
I don't profess to be familiar with every translation of Cyrano into English, but I certainly have a favorite. I don't know why any production is ever put on that doesn't use Christopher Fry's beautiful and brilliant translation.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
Okay, I've re-read the French version and can't find anything that could be mistaken for the "s" word that is used several times in the new production.
So much for that.
I'm not familiar with the translations at all. So, i can't comment on that. But as a whole, I really enjoyed the production. I thought it was beautiful and that they staging told the story well. Even though it was long, it didn't feel long at all to me.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
Ah, the Burgess translation eliminates that wonderful reference the dying Cyrano makes to his "panache". Instead, he uses "my white feather". To some people that is the same thing, but "panache" has so more...well, panache.
Similarly, the current version omits another one of my favorite lines, "Tonight a hundred man are not enough. BRING ME GIANTS!"
I was wondering why this version ends with "My panache" and other versions with "my plume." I hadn't realized before looking at the dictionary just now that "panache" is a feather or a bunch of feathers on a helmet. So I learned something!
Saw it last Sunday. We enjoyed it immensely.Hodge's Cyrano reminds me of Cyrano crosssed with a longshoreman.He looks grubby compared to Plummer's Cyrano.He did give a great performance though. The whole show is him.I do not think there will be a great audience for it however.
The sound was one of the best I have heard in a long time. The cannon roar all around you and your seat reverberates at times.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
A belated Happy Birthday to you, Mr Roxy. It's hard to determine the year you were born in because the earth was still forming at the time of your nativity.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
No I don't, Roxy. My birthday is a few days after yours.
WOW. What an absolute steaming pile of dog sh*t. I'd never walked out of a show at intermission, but this was the worst production I've tried to sit through. Horrible pacing, awful direction.
I can't recommend enough that you learn from me, SKIP IT AND SAVE YOUR MONEY.
The "panache" thing only really sticks out if you know it's there in other translations. It's a complex point, anyway- it's a pun that works only because the play was popular enough to create a double meaning for the word "panache" that gradually became culturally ingrained more than the original meaning.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
douglas hodge is a great talent so why is he so bad here.
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/20/05
My question is, why is the Roundabout so addled-pated to revive a play that was given a fine production within the last 5 years? I admit that I've never cared for the play, but Klein did what there was to do with the role. Surely Roundabout could have come up with something more original that could have allowed Hodge to do his thing, as it were.
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/29/12
If anyone is curious to see the show tonight I have an extra ticket. PM For details. Thanks.
What I find interesting is that Patrick Page, who has played Cyrano to acclaim regionally, left what I'm sure would have been a very lucrative stay in Spider-Man to play the thankless supporting role of De Guiche at the Roundabout for presumably a lot less money.
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/30/08
Broadway Star Joined: 11/6/07
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/30/08
Thanks.
Seeing this tomorrow afternoon. Love the Burgess translation. Unsure about this new one.
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