Home  Entertainment Reviews Review: Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand (Jan. 26)
|
Review: Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand (Jan. 26) |
|
|
|
|
Written by Barry Gaines
|
|
last updated Saturday, January 26, 2008, at 14:02:25
|
|
I am delighted that Artistic Director Theresa Reid has brought the French romantic classic of lyric love and swashbuckling bravado, “Cyrano de Bergerac” by Edmond Rostand (1897), to Albuquerque Little Theatre.
Reid is the director, choreographer, and sound designer of this ambitious theatrical undertaking that has strengths and weaknesses. First she has chosen her text well. Rostand wrote in rhymed Alexandrines (lines with six stresses), a verse form that does not transfer well to English. Reid chose the English translation by Brian Hooker, written in blank verse (unrhymed five-stress lines), a meter favored by Shakespeare. Peter Shea Kierst did a fine job of adapting the translation, cutting its length without removing its amazing stagecraft. Cyrano is a brave, proud, and witty soldier/poet, adept with both words and swords. And he has a prodigious proboscis—a nose that “marches on before [him] by a quarter of an hour!” He is in love with his beautiful cousin Roxane who, in turn, loves handsome but dull-witted Christian de Neuvillette. Christian is attracted to Roxane, and Cyrano offers to provide the love-language for Christian’s courtship. Cyrano’s poetry works and Roxane marries Christian, who must immediately leave for battle. Only at Cyrano’s death does Roxane realize whose soul she has adored. I believe the key to “Cyrano de Bergerac” lies in the word “panache.” The original French meaning of “panache” is the ornamental plume of feathers worn on a hat, but by extension it means “a grand or flamboyant manner; verve; style; flair.” Cyrano needs all of these qualities, and that is a lot to ask of an actor. Benjamin Liberman is, I believe, still feeling his way in the part of Cyrano. He has the style but lacks the flamboyance. However, he does a nice job with the balcony scene where Cyrano speaks his love to Roxane in his own voice. Ryan Jason Cook is a strong Christian, but his character has a narrow range of emotions. Tawni Waters is an attractive Roxane who recognizes the shallowness of her initial attraction to Christian’s handsome exterior. Don Bicknell, resplendent in long, curly wigs, is ardent as the play’s villain Comte de Guiche, and Steven Martinez is convincing as Cyrano’s friend Le Bret. The single set of right angles and arches designed by Valeria Rios-Giermakowski functions well, and I enjoyed Andrew McHarney’s lighting design. The lighting on the characters as well as the pastels of the backdrop change during scenes, a departure from most past ALT productions. The lighting helps to focus mood, much as music does in films. Yet there are troubling inconsistencies. Cyrano speaks of removing a cape while not wearing one. “Panache” is the play’s last word, translated as “white plume,” but on the ALT stage, Cyrano’s hat has a black plume. Everyone knows that heroes wear white feathers. “Cyrano de Bergerac” by Edmond Rostand. Albuquerque Little Theatre, 224 San Pasquale SW. Thursday (February 7), Fridays, and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through February 17. $22 general public, $20 seniors and $18 students. Call 242-4750 for ticket information
Comment on this article
Send your comments to ABQjournal (Show/Hide Form)
Other Visitors Comments
There are no comments approved to share, thanks for your comments ....
|
|
permalink
|
About Reviewers D.S. Crafts (Website) Composer Daniel Steven Crafts came to New Mexico from San Francisco where he had hosted a classical music radio program on KPFA. His first commission from opera star Jerry Hadley, "The Song & the Slogan" based on texts by Carl Sandburg was made into a TV program for the PBS network winning an Emmy for Best Music. His opera La Llorona, a collaboration with novelist Rudolfo Anaya will be presented by the National Hispanic Cultural Center in October, 2008. In 2007 the New Mexico Symphony commissioned him to write the commemoration piece for its 75th anniversary. Collaborating with cartoonist Shannon Wheeler, he created the satiric/comic opera Too Much Coffee Man which premiered in 2006. His music has been recorded by the Kiev and Czech Philharmonics and the Prague Radio Symphony Chorus and Orchestra for the Masterworks of the New Era series available on the ERM label. Two CDs of his music, Contemporaries (short, satirical keyboard works) and ARIAS (excerpts from operas) have been released on the BACAT label.
David Steinberg David Steinberg has covered state government, the courts, city and county government in Santa Fe for the Albuquerque Journal. He's been an arts writer for the past 20 years, and serves as the book editor, for the Journal. Over the years, he's also acted in plays, sung in choruses and played trumpet.
Jennifer Noyer Jennifer Noyer has been writing dance reviews for the Albuquerque Journal for 17 years, as well as contributing articles for Dance Magazine and other art journals. She trained in dance with Hanya Holm in New York City and Colorado Springs, and studied several dance techniques at the graduate level at the University of Michigan. After teaching dance at Wayne State University she entered and completed a Masters Degree in Humanities there. In New Mexico Ms. Noyer has taught, directed, and choreographed contemporary dance for several years. Her writing on dance includes a monograph accompanying the video of choreographer Bill Evens’ ballet “The Legacy.” An overview of Evans’s world wide career, it was written and published during his tenure at the University of New Mexico. Ms. Noyer’s studies in the humanities, and her studio dance work influence her approach to dance as an integrative art form in the United States.
Barry Gaines Barry Gaines has taught Shakespeare in the University of New Mexico English Department for over twenty-five years and has received two outstanding teaching awards. He has written theater reviews for the Journal since 2000. He has attended theater all over the world including Shakespeare productions in Russia, South Africa, Denmark, and Poland. He has also served as literary advisor for two professional theater companies and written performance reviews for Shakespeare Quarterly. Gaines has taken two years of acting with Paul Ford and appeared in small parts in three plays at the Albuquerque Little Theater. He believes that he is probably a better reviewer than actor.
Joanne Sheehy Hoover Joanne Sheehy Hoover, music critic emeritus of the Albuquerque Journal, has written for NPR, PBS, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Symphony, among others. She has also been a music lecturer for the Smithsonian Associates and a music critic and arts writer for The Washington Post. She was director of the Levine School of Music, one of the country’s largest community music schools, in Washington, D. C. 1980-1993. She and her husband moved to Corrales, New Mexico in July 1993. Also a poet, her fifth collection, “Einstein in New Mexico,” was published in 2002.
Marissa Greenberg Marissa Greenberg is a member of the faculty of the University of New Mexico English Department, where she teaches Shakespeare and early English literature. A prior guest reviewer for the Albuquerque Journal, Greenberg will be reviewing theater while Barry Gaines is out of town. She also composed and edited the program notes for last year’s Albuquerque Shakespeare Festival and has written performance reviews for Shakespeare Bulletin. A graduate of Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania, Greenberg has been performing and studying drama for most of her life. She is thrilled to have this opportunity to review for the Journal.
If you have your own question about the news that you'd like to see answered by an AP journalist, send it to newsquestions@ap.org, with "Ask AP" in the subject line. Visit the ASK ap web site.
|
:
...go to bookmarks