Its Reputation Proceeds Me | "Cyrano de Bergerac" @ Pasadena Playhouse

[cahwyguy]

I’d wager a guess that almost everyone is familiar with some aspects of the Cyrano de Bergerac story. Perhaps you know it is is story about a man with a really big nose. Perhaps you know instead the story of someone who was incapable of speaking to the opposite sex, so they get a friend to ghost-write their words for them (without secretly knowing that friend had longing for the same person). Perhaps you recall it turns out badly when the truth is found out. Perhaps you recall a moral from the story: Seeing beyond a person’s appearance to true beauty within. These elements have been excerpted for many stories throughout the years.

Perhaps you’ve seen the movie Roxanne with Steve Martin. That’s based on this story. Perhaps you’ve seen or heard of the musical Calvin Berger. Again, same story.  Perhaps you’ve seen The Truth about Cats and Dogs. Again, same story.

Suffice it to say that we’re all familiar with the outlines and basic tropes of the Cyrano story. But most of us probably haven’t seen the original, or something that hews closely to the original. So I was intrigued when the Pasadena Playhouse announced Cyrano de Bergerac as the first show of their 2024-2025 season. By this point, you should be able to guess where we were last night.

First, a slight digression to a different play, about a slightly more modern historical figure: Alexander Hamilton. I must note that last weekend was our first outing to the theatre since my wife’s knee replacement surgery in August. We went to see Hamilton at the Hollywood Pantages. It was my third time seeing the show; my wife’s fourth. I didn’t have the strong urge to do a full write up, as my notes would align with my first viewing thoughts from 2017. I did have four observations on the show that I posted on FB:

• Burr seems almost Trump-like, with his never taking a stand on something. This parallel comes out really strong in the Election of 1800, where Hamilton, like traditional Republicans today, endorses his long-time opponent Jefferson because it was better to support someone with positions than someone who was just in it for himself.
• I wonder how this show will be done in regional theatres, especially when there is no turntable. The turntable is the key to the choreography that moves the show forward.
• Kudos to the Pantages for being able to change where we were sitting at intermission so my wife could be in her wheelchair, as her new knee was still giving her a lot of pain.
• Is it time to have a revival of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, if only to highlight the dangers of populism. Do our Presidential shows highlight how we view the presidency and the nation, running from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave to Ben Franklin in Paris to 1776 to Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson to Hamilton to Soft Power?

In any case, let’s return to Cyrano.

As I noted above, we’re all familiar with the story tropes of Cyrano de Bergerac. Guy with big nose, who can write really well. Guy who can’t write gets Cyrano to write love letters for him. Girl falls in love with both guys: the outside of one, the inside (not “insides”, which would be yuk) of the other. But I’ll also willing to bet that most of us aren’t familiar with the original play from 1897 by Edmond Rostand, nor the life of the real Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac, upon whom Rostand based his story. I certainly wasn’t. I didn’t know the original was written in lyric poetry; I didn’t know about the military aspects of Cyrano’s story, nor did I recall how it ended. I certainly didn’t know about the real Cyrano and the fact that he was one of the first science fiction authors, having written L’Autre Monde: ou les États et Empires de la Lune (“Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon“, published posthumously, 1657) and Les États et Empires du Soleil (The States and Empires of the Sun, 1662), which are purportedly classics of early modern science fiction.

To be clear, what we saw last night was not Rostand’s original play. Rostand’s story was freely adapted by Martin Crimp in 2019 for the Playhouse Theatre in London; it is that version that was produced by the Pasadena Playhouse. Crimp’s version keeps almost all of the story elements of the original: the setting in France in the 1600s; the original characters; the lyric poetry; the relationships between the characters. It updates the language; it updates some of the mores to reflect the increasing gender fluidity of the times (although not with the primary characters). One might argue that it updates the style of the lyricism: the rhyming sounds less like pre-French-revolution, and more like today’s hip-hop rhythms.  It also moves the action of the play from the traditional proscenium setting and historical dress to one that interacts with the audience more, and the characters in modern style and dress (while still supposedly in France in the 1600s). It updates references: the play Clorise in Act I becomes Hamlet; the proprietor of the Cafe Ragueneau changes from a man to a woman. There is also plenty of commentary added on gender roles, and the datedness of those roles in early France.

The juxtaposition of the 1600s and the early 2000s is jarring, but suspension of belief quickly kicks in and your brain adapts to the dissonance. At least it does for most people; there were some audience members (such as the older folks sitting in front of us) that didn’t return from intermission.

The Pasadena Playhouse version also dispenses with a lot of props and accoutrements of a traditional Cyrano. I’ve already noted that the costuming is mostly modern, with characters in street clothes, and even the military uniforms being more suggestions of uniforms than anything else. They also dispense with the usual prosthetics; indeed, there is no visible evidence that Cyrano is actually disfigured in any way at all (other than being portrayed by a black actor, but I think that is more color-blind casting than intentional for the story). Could Cyrano’s disfigurement be entirely in his mind? That’s never made clear. The play also starts with the actors out in the audience, seemingly sharing space with the playgoers (which does fit better with the first act, which takes place in a theatre).

When the play started — and especially as I’ve never seen the original Cyrano — I wasn’t sure what to make of it. The poetry was coming fast and furious, and it was hard at times to keep up. But the story and characters quickly drew me in. The dissonance, while initially annoying, disappeared into the background and just became another novel aspect of the story. It was helped by the staging of the story by the Pasadena Playhouse, which was very abstract (which emphasized the timelessness of the story and the disconnect from realism of the presentation).

Now that I’ve seen a near-Cyrano, I understand the tropes a lot better. One can also see why the story became a timeless one, constantly being excepted for new adaptions. The divide between the handsome non-talents and the plain talented will always exist. We always wish that those we are attracted to could see the beauty and talent within us, and not fall for the handsome tasteless Wonder Bread™ standing next to us. But they almost always do, and they are the worse for it. The point of Cyrano is the importance of seeing through the bullshit and finding the truth and the talent.

#insert your election observation here. I know who the handsome tasteless Wonder Bread™ is in this election, and I’m sure you know where I stand.

The leads of the show were strong: Chukwudi Iwuji was a believable poet/soldier as Cyrano, and Rosa Salazar was a beautiful Roxanne. Will Hochman was an appropriately handsome non-poet Christian. I also enjoyed the casting of some of the smaller roles: Kimerly Scott’s Madame Rageuneu was delightful, and I grew to like Aaron Costa Ganis’ Le Bret. But the Baby Boomer in me loved seeing Barry Livingston on stage in the small role of Theatre Owner/Priest. Why? C’mon: Barry was Ernie in the classic My Three Sons,  with his brother Stanley playing his older brother Chip. It’s the little things, folks.

By the time this gets posted, the last (or next to last) performance of Cyrano de Bergerac at the Pasadena Playhouse will have started, as this is the closing weekend. You might still be able to get tickets.  There are shows today at 2pm and 7pm.  It is well worth seeing.

———

Cyrando de Bergerac. Written by Edmond Rostand; freely adapted by Martin Crimp. Directed by Mike Donahue. Cyrano de Bergerac in this adaptation was first performed at the Playhouse Theatre, London, on 27 November 2019.

Cast: Chukwudi Iwuji Cyrano; Rosa Salazar Roxane; Will Hochman Christian; Kimberly Scott Madame Ragueneau; Larry Powell Lignière; Jens Austin Astrup Alastair / Act 3 Soldier; Aaron Costa Ganis Le Bret; E. M. Davis Usher / Denise / Medic; Christine Lin Woman Sent by Roxane / Marie-Louise; Barry Livingston Theatre Owner / Priest; Michael Nathanson De Guiche; Kila Packett Fencing Referee / Sentry; Sawyer Patterson Valvert; Jonathan Slavin Montfleury / Armande; John Garet Stoker Annoying Person.

Creative and Production: Afsoon Pajoufar Scenic Design; Carolyn Mazuca Costume Design; Josh Epstein Lighting Design; Edward Hansen Lighting Design; Veronika Vorel Sound Design; Rachel Lee Flesher Fight Director / Intimacy Coordinator; Christine Adaire Voice / Text Coach; Ryan Bernard Tymensky, CSA Casting; Colleen Danaher Stage Manager; Jessica Keasberry-Vnuk Asst. Stage Manager; Kimberly Sanchez Garrido Asst. Stage Manager.

Favorite Credit: John Garet Stoker Annoying Person.  Can you imagine putting that on your resume?

♦ ♦ ♦

Administrivia: I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; and 5-Star Theatricals. We’re looking for the right intimate theatre to subscribe at — it hasn’t been the same since Rep East died (it’s now The Main, and although it does a lot of theatre, it doesn’t have seasons or a resident company), and post-COVID, most 99-seaters aren’t back to doing seasons (or seasons we like). I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming ♦ Theatre / ♣ Music / ◊ Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending):

• October: ♦ Little Shop of Horrors at 5-Star Theatricals; ♦ Kimberly Akimbo at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages.
• November: ♦ American Idiot  at CTG/Taper; ♦ Back to the Future: The Musical at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; possibly ♦ Fiddler on the Roof ⊕ at La Mirada PAC; ♦ La Cage Aux Folles at Pasadena Playhouse; possibly Santa Claus Conquers the Martians ⊕ at Maverick Theatre
• December: ♦ Wicked at Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages; ♦ Once Upon a Mattress at CTG/Ahmanson;

On the Theatrical Horizon:

Bruce Kimmel will be bringing the rarely done Drat! The Cat! to Lonny Chapman’s Group Rep in March 2025.

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as Its Reputation Proceeds Me | "Cyrano de Bergerac" @ Pasadena Playhouse by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link to the left. You can sign in with your LJ, DW, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. Note: Subsequent changes made to the post on the blog are not propagated by the SNAP Crossposter; please visit the original post to see the latest version. P.S.: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.