Cyrano de Bergerac (Broadway Theatre Archive)
by William Ball, Bruce Franchini
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DVD details
Actor: Kathryn Crosby, Marc Singer, Marsha Mason, Peter DonatDirector: Bruce Franchini, William Ball
Brand: Kultur
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 130 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-01-28
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Kultur Video
DVD Reviews of Cyrano de Bergerac (Broadway Theatre Archive)
DVD Review: A GREAT LEADING MAN, A BADLY WOUNDED SCRIPT
Summary: 4 Stars
Cyrano de Bergerac (Broadway Theatre Archive) [VHS]
Like ellen (9/18/06), I "fell in love" with this performance of Edmond Rostand's classic Cyrano de Bergerac, when I first saw it many years ago. Like Rosemary Heilemann (10/4/05), I was thrilled by Peter Donat's interpretation of Cyrano, because "he is so natural, so believable, and so grand." I agree with Gavino (3/19/04), who felt that "NO ONE does Cyrano better than" Donat. Also, with A Customer (2/24/03), who found that Donat "makes a brilliant Cyrano, as good as anyone else has ever played it," and with Michael Hoffman (4/16/05), who called Donat's portrayal "peerless." In rating Donat the best, I am comparing him with the other Cyranos I've watched: Jose Ferrer, Derek Jacobi, Gerard Depardieu, and Kevin Kline.
Stresspuppy (9/18/03) strongly disagrees, putting Donat at the bottom of his list of Cyranos. He finds Donat, "while sensitive, to be weak. There is no command in his voice or definitive inflection in his delivery." For example, he argues that "the refrain of the duel at the Hotel de Bourgogne," which should have been dramatic, punctuating the end of the duel, "is delivered in the same bantering manner Donat used" for the whole ballade, "not really bad but bland and uninvolving." Also, he contends that Donat's delivery of the "What would you have me do? Seek for the patronage of some great man... speech or even the balcony scene where Cyrano finds 'his own voice' was not dynamic and didn't resonate"
No command in Donat's voice or definitive inflection in his delivery? If true, these would be grave faults, so I checked my tape. At Donat's first entrance, his speeches abound in command and inflection as he alternates sternness and comedy to expel the actor he hates, and to win over the crowd. If by inflection one means a change of pitch or loudness in the voice, the famous Nose speech is a riot of deft and munificently varied inflection. Stresspuppy, indeed, is right that Donat's version of the duel-ballade REFRAIN continues the bantering manner of the verses, rather than following the Rostand's direction that it be solemn. But that bantering manner contains a wealth of changes in pitch and volume, as does the rest of Donat's Act I.
Regarding the "What would you have me do?" speech, I agree that Donat is less powerful than Ferrer, and, during the balcony scene, not only a bit hoarse, but much less passionate than Jacobi. Nevertheless, Donat has imagined and expressed a character who is strong, commanding, versatile, brilliant, witty, learned, courageous, formidable, loving, funny, independent, whom we love despite his also being sometimes a killer and a bully, and often a liar.
The rest of the Donat cast ranged from OK to very good. I liked especially Joseph Bird's meddler (staring transfixed and terrified at the Nose in profile), John Hancock's pickpocket, Henry Hoffman's Ligniere, Robert Mooney's Ragueneau, and Elizabeth Huddle's Duenna. Marsha Mason as Roxane was lovely, but no match for Synead Cusack, the Roxane of the Jacobi production. Cusack was beautiful, and, as the play's author clearly specified, a blonde. Anne Brochet, in the Depardieu Cyrano, was lovely to look at while she watched the action in Act I, but lacked the spunk of Cusack and Mason in Acts III & IV.
By choosing the Brian Hooker translation of Rostand's play as their point of departure, the Ferrer and Donat productions made a great start. Hooker's translation is clear, succinct, powerful, noble, beautiful, and faithful. However, in both productions, the text as performed is quite different from the translation as written. This is partly because the French text is very long, taking rather more than three hours to perform. The Ferrer Cyrano runs slightly less than two hours; the Donat Cyrano, slightly more. That means sacrificing a third of the play. Moreover, a large number of the remaining lines were revised.
Now, you expect this to happen when people make a movie from a play, even a very great play. Lines are sacrificed to make room for movement and action, and revised and simplified to reach a wider audience. So the transformation in the Ferrer movie was painful, but par for the course. But the Donat Cyrano was produced and performed, AS A PLAY, by the acclaimed American Conservatory Theatre of San Francisco. It was then televised by PBS as an "example of American theatre at its best."
The theatre company chose a splendid leading man, and the best available English translation of a great French play. After this excellent beginning, the producers decided to amputate and alter, up and down, all around. If you find this hard to believe-- which I would have-- buy an inexpensive copy of Hooker's translation, choose your symbols for indicating cuts and revisions, turn on the play, and mark away. Judge for yourself: Is this American theatre at its best?
Description of Cyrano de Bergerac (Broadway Theatre Archive)
In Edmond Rostand?s swashbuckling yet bittersweet comedy, the characters experience emotions on a heroic scale. The play?s hero, Cyrano, is a magnificent wit whose pride masks a deep insecurity about his appearance?specifically, his abnormally large nose. His compelling love for the beautiful heroine, Roxanne, is the motivating force behind all the action in the play. With words from his own poet?s heart, Cyrano wins Roxanne for another man, the tongue-tied but handsome Christian. Stars Peter Donat (War of the Roses) and four-time Oscar® nominee Marsha Mason (The Goodbye Girl).Bestsellers in DVD
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