Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7- Page 2
Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7
EganFan2
Broadway Star Joined: 9/8/04
#25re: Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7
Posted: 1/7/09 at 9:22pmJennifer seems to be doing pretty well, in my opinion. Not perfect, but really good. She is over-enunciating sometimes, but I wouldn't exactly say overacting in general.
#26re: Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7
Posted: 1/7/09 at 9:27pmthat balcony scene was outstanding...i am loving this even more than when i saw it live (and i raved about it).
#27re: Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7
Posted: 1/7/09 at 9:40pmI think this is an excellent production. I'm upset I had to forfeit the tickets I had to see this. Kevin Kline is absolutely brilliant. Very understated and subtle portrayal. The balcony scene was the most moving I've ever seen it done. The direction is also exceptional.
JudasIscariot
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/05
#28re: Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7
Posted: 1/7/09 at 9:40pmWow, this is seriously awesome. I'm very much enjoying it, and Kline's performance is superb.
CurtainPullDowner
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
#29re: Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7
Posted: 1/7/09 at 9:44pmAnd those Gorgeous Martin Paklendiaz costumes!
JudasIscariot
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/05
#30re: Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7
Posted: 1/7/09 at 9:45pmWait, was Kline not nominated for a Tony?
SporkGoddess
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/27/05
#31re: Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7
Posted: 1/7/09 at 9:50pmI'm watching it right now and Kevin Kline is absolutely AMAZING.
#32re: Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7
Posted: 1/7/09 at 9:51pmCostumes are by Gregory Gale. And, sadly, no, Kevin Kline was not nominated.
#33re: Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7
Posted: 1/7/09 at 9:51pmAmazingly, this production of Cyrano only got one Tony nomination...for best costume design. Kline deserved to be nominated and win the award, in my opinion, but I guess the production had been forgotten since it closed on January 6, 2008. If it had opened in May, I think the nominations (and wins) would have turned out differently.
CurtainPullDowner
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
#34re: Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7
Posted: 1/7/09 at 9:55pmOOps MyBad, sorry Gregory, they are Glorious!
#35re: Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7
Posted: 1/7/09 at 10:00pmMy mom saw this production when it was on Broadway this past year. She wanted to leave early, but she got through it. I tried to watch it tonight, I got about 20 minutes into it and got bored. Although the costumes, and sets were amazing.
#36re: Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7
Posted: 1/7/09 at 10:26pmWow. The ending. Powerful stuff. I shed a few tears.
#37re: Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7
Posted: 1/7/09 at 10:28pmI did too, ColorTheHours. This show was so incredible. Loved it.
JudasIscariot
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/05
#38re: Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7
Posted: 1/7/09 at 10:28pmKline was robbed of a nomination, and a win. That ending was breathtaking.
#39re: Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7
Posted: 1/7/09 at 10:34pm
"Any screen-to-stage actors should take a cue from Jennifer Garner. She's excellent."
I agree with Gilvisto. I hated Garner's acting in this. She overacted so much in the 2nd and 3rd scenes. Not so much in the second act, but enough for me to still dislike her instincts.
Kevin Kline was brilliant. I really wished I had seen him live. Everything he said was captivating.
Unfortunately, I fell asleep a little at the end of the 3rd scene but that was due to being exhausted.
But, again, Garner's acting ruined most of it for me.
~Dirty Rotten Scoundrels~
~Curtains~
~A Tale of Two Cities ~
#40re: Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7
Posted: 1/7/09 at 10:35pm
I thought it was simply wonderful!!!
Though I do agree a bit about Garner, though I don't think she was bad (I'll have to see it again to study her more) I just felt as if...she didn't fit into the rest of the production somehow...
"If artists were machines, then I'm just a different kind of machine...I'd probably be a toaster. Actually, I'd be a toaster oven because they're more versatile. And I like making grilled cheese" -Regina Spektor
"That's, like, twelve shows! ...Or seven." -Crazy SA Fangirl
"They say that just being relaxed is the most important thing [in acting]. I take that to another level, I think kinda like yawning and...like being partially asleep onstage is also good, but whatever." - Sherie Rene Scott
SporkGoddess
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/27/05
#41re: Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7
Posted: 1/7/09 at 10:41pmI like her acting, but her over-enunciating is driving me crazy. Sometimes she sounds like she's from Yorkshire, haha.
SporkGoddess
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/27/05
#42re: Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7
Posted: 1/7/09 at 11:25pmIt just ended, and I am now angry that Kevin Kline did not even get nominated for a Tony.
#43re: Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7
Posted: 1/7/09 at 11:28pmWow. That production was simply breathtaking. How was Kline not nominated? And as for Jennifer Garner's performance, yes, she did over-enunciate a little. But her performance was stunning none-the-less.
"Leave Walt Disney Theatricals new sparkling production of The Little Mermaid on Broadway alone!!!"
lakezurich will be played by Paul Groves in the BWW musical
TheatreDiva90016
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
#44re: Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7
Posted: 1/7/09 at 11:29pm
Damn it.
I just missed the first 1/2 hour...
#45re: Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7
Posted: 1/7/09 at 11:33pm
That's alright TheatreDiva, I'd missed the first full hour before I realized it was airing.
And yes, Garner made every word a mountain to get over, sometimes it sounded like she was speaking slowly to a child.
"If artists were machines, then I'm just a different kind of machine...I'd probably be a toaster. Actually, I'd be a toaster oven because they're more versatile. And I like making grilled cheese" -Regina Spektor
"That's, like, twelve shows! ...Or seven." -Crazy SA Fangirl
"They say that just being relaxed is the most important thing [in acting]. I take that to another level, I think kinda like yawning and...like being partially asleep onstage is also good, but whatever." - Sherie Rene Scott
LostLeander
Broadway Star Joined: 3/18/05
#46re: Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7
Posted: 1/7/09 at 11:34pm
Kline = brilliant. Perfection.
All I can say about Garner is that she's better than Katie Holmes.
.. not saying much.
TheatreDiva90016
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
#47re: Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7
Posted: 1/7/09 at 11:44pmI'll have to get a copy from my friend who records these things. I hate coming in after they've already started.
#48re: Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7
Posted: 1/8/09 at 1:18amNot liking Jennifer Garner. She's a little too over the top. It might just be the cameras though. It could have have read better in the theatre. It's always hard to tell.
A Director
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/18/07
#49re: Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS January 7
Posted: 1/8/09 at 3:17am
Kevin Kline was good, but he had two things working against him, the awful direction of David Leveaux and the dreadful Jennifer Garner. Ms. Garner has no business being onstage. She played two notes all evening, one was off-key. She brought nothing to the role. Daniel Sunjata had his moments. Everyone else faded into the awful sets.
The Anthony Burgess translation/adaptation is the best available in English. Cyrano is a wonderful play. David Leveaux sucked out all the romance and pathos leaving nothing more than comedy which came very close to farce.
There was a wonderful production done in the 1970s at ACT in San Francisco directed by William Ball with Peter Donat, Marsha Mason and Marc Singer as the three leads. It was shown on PBS and is available on DVD. It is well-worth finding a copy to see how real American actors in these roles.
I saw a regional production two years ago that put this Broadway production to shame.
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