Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7

[kec]

Posted: 1/1/09 at 12:10pm

Per the PBS website at 8 p.m.. I noticed it on the WETA website also (that PBS in WAshington DC)
Cyrano de Bergerac

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 1/1/09 at 12:48pm

And the DVD comes out on the 6th.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 1/1/09 at 1:06pm

Format: Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Image Entertainment
DVD Release Date: January 6, 2009
Run Time: 141 minutes

Now on DVD, this romantic Broadway hit starring Oscar winner Kevin Kline (A Fish Called Wanda), Jennifer Garner (Juno) and Daniel Sunjata (TV's Rescue Me), wowed both critics and audiences. This classic tale of romance and tragedy tells the touching story of the big-nosed poet and philosopher Cyrano who feeds the handsome but empty-headed Christian the honey'd words to win the love of the beautiful Roxanne.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 1/1/09 at 2:10pm

I have my DVD copy on pre-order, as I'll be out of the country for the next month beginning Monday.

I was hoping it would be shipped early so I could watch it on the plane, but no.

[kec]

Posted: 1/7/09 at 11:45am

Just a little reminder for those who don't have the dvd.

[Misha77]

Posted: 1/7/09 at 2:40pm

I'm so excited to watch this tonight.
I feel like I've waited forever, haha.

[ken8631]

Posted: 1/7/09 at 2:51pm

My Tivo is ready....

[kec]

Posted: 1/7/09 at 6:27pm

My dvr will be going as well.

[lakezurich]

Posted: 1/7/09 at 6:31pm

I'm really excited for this.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 1/7/09 at 6:34pm

PBS isn't loading for me! Is it at 9 EST?

[yankee_fan907]

Posted: 1/7/09 at 6:41pm

I live in New Jersey and have DishNetwork. For me, it is on local channel 13 from 8:00 - 10:30 PM.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 1/7/09 at 6:42pm

On WHYY in Philadelphia it's on at 9pm and on WNET in NYC it's on at 8pm

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 1/7/09 at 7:48pm

Okay, it FINALLY loaded and it's on at 8 PM here.

Thanks

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 1/7/09 at 8:18pm

Only 18 minutes into it and i love it so much. This, in my opinion, was the best play I saw last year. I'm so glad it was filmed!!

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 1/7/09 at 8:36pm

This is a lot better than I remember it being. Maybe my perception of the show was skewed. I was sitting in the last row of the mezzanine and I think I missed a lot of the subtlety of movement and facial expressions, as well as some of the dialogue. I'm enjoying the camera work too.

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 1/7/09 at 8:42pm

Any screen-to-stage actors should take a cue from Jennifer Garner. She's excellent.

[EugLoven]

Posted: 1/7/09 at 8:43pm

Regrettably, I'm falling asleep...

[aliciag]

Posted: 1/7/09 at 8:44pm

I forgot how much I loved this play... and this production. It's so great to be able to see it again! Thank God for PBS!

[Magdalene]

Posted: 1/7/09 at 8:47pm

I forgot it was on tonight---but luckily I'll be able to catch it tomoorow night!

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 1/7/09 at 8:48pm

"Any screen-to-stage actors should take a cue from Jennifer Garner. She's excellent."

I agree. I hope she works on Broadway again. This cast was perfection.

[gilvisto]

Posted: 1/7/09 at 9:00pm

SPOILER ALERT: (if you can spoil a classic)


I disagree with you. I thought Jennifer's performance was over-the-top to the point of being distracting. I felt the same way about Le Bret, and at certain points Le Guiche. Given that I know Garner and the others can do better, I am guessing that it was the director's choice to intentionally "dumb down" the masterpiece as to make it more accessible to the average theater-goer. While I understand this decision, it saddens me. This particular adaptation was not my favorite either, several of my favorite lines were cut, and the death scene was re-arranged. I guess it was for dramatic irony (you learn Cyrano is dying before you see him in Act V), but I felt the original version (with the audience learning about what happened an hour before supper on the night of the 26th in the middle of the scene) was much more poignant.
I also was confused as to why Ragueneau seemed a much smaller part than I remember him. They cut his recipe and his arrival at Arras seemed much more casual than I envision it (I have read three different translations and watched three others, now that this one is included)...

I was disappointed by a great deal of it, but perhaps my expectations were too high...

Now for the good points:

Kevin Kline was brilliant. He pegged the attitude of a great hero of mine, and I loved it.
The set was also brilliant. The balcony scene's staging was the best version I've ever seen, and better than any I've imagined.

The story still made me cry.

Updated On: 1/7/09 at 09:00 PM

[Roscoe]

Posted: 1/7/09 at 9:05pm

After an hour I'm ready to turn it off. Some really painfully bad acting from everybody except Kline, who is just a joy to watch. The direction for television is really bad, and there are some pretty obvious cuts made to the stage production: beginnings of scenes have been cut, fade ins are happening on scenes that have clearly been going on for some time.

[gilvisto]

Posted: 1/7/09 at 9:08pm

Oh, please do endure the bad parts. It's still Cyrano.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 1/7/09 at 9:09pm

Ready to turn it off? I can't wait to watch it a second time. The camera work is wonderful!

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 1/7/09 at 9:21pm

I'm very, very sorry I missed this production.

Its fantastic so far...just fantastic. Sunjata is pretty terrible but besides that everything else is wonderful. Kline is brilliant and Garner is great.