Cyrano de Bergerac (Broadway Theatre Archive)

Rating:
Summary: Very well adapted for the stage.
Review: Having recently viewed this DVD of Cyrano by the ACT of San Francisco, I was very impressed with Peter Donat as Cyrano. Compared to Jose Ferrer, Donat is a more convincing Cyrano due in part to how animated he is when gesturing. Ferrer, in my opinion, was very stiff and to loud. Although the duel sequence in the first act was better performed in the Ferrer version. Cyrano's duel with Valvert in the Donat version was a little skewed and turned into a comedy rather than a serious duel where two men's lives were at stake. Marsha Mason, who plays Roxanne, shows a lot more emotion in her love for Christian. Compared to Marla Powers in the 1950 version, this Roxanne is more intellectual and sophisticated. Marla Powers played the role just fine, but was just reciting lines. There was no emotion in her words. Marc Singer also does an excellent job of playing Christian, whom Roxanne falls in love with. Any fan of Cyrano will also be pleased to know that this staged version is more faithful to the original play than the Ferrer version was. I thought that the ommison of Lingere and Le Bret from the 1950 version did the play a great injustice. The reason I compare this theatre version with the 1950 version is because they both use the Brian Hooker translation. I preffered the Anthony Burgess translation because its more poetic and detailed as far as words are concerned. The Hooker translation is a little dumbed down. To get a sense of what I mean check out the Derek Jacobi version of Cyrano. It was made in 1984 by the Royal Shakespeare company and is only available on VHS at this time. And for the ultimate Cyrano adaptaion, check out the Gerard Depardieu version which was made in 1991. It was nominated for 4 Academy Awards including best foregin picture and will stand as the definitive version of Cyrano.

Rating:
Summary: Certainly hard to imagine a better version
Review: I, too, saw this production on PBS in the 70's and I felt it was of the highest quality. NO ONE does Cyrano better than Donat the younger, and Marsha Mason shows true emotion as her true love dies. The duel in the tavern is spectacular, NOT for the swashbuckling, but for the way the wit and wisdom of Cyrano dispatches his foe. This is a must see of must sees.

Rating:
Summary: Certainly hard to imagine a better version
Review: I, too, saw this production on PBS in the 70's and I felt it was of the highest quality. NO ONE does Cyrano better than Donat the younger, and Marsha Mason shows true emotion as her true love dies. The duel in the tavern is spectacular, NOT for the swashbuckling, but for the way the wit and wisdom of Cyrano dispatches his foe. This is a must see of must sees.

Rating:
Summary: Not the Best Version
Review: In my opinion, the best version still remains Jose Ferrer's 1950 classic when he won an Oscar for best actor as Cyrano (a role he had already won a Tony award on stage), then comes the Derek Jacobi version with the Royal Shakespeare Company, followed by Girard Depardieu's version before this presentation with Peter Donat in the title role.

Adapting the Brian Hooker translation (my preference over the Burgess and wasn't 'dumbed down' as the prior reviewer states but translated and intrepretated by a young American poet to make the play accessible to the English speaking audience -- sometimes literal translations lack 'panache' and overall continuity of language) of the Edmond Rostand play, I found Donat's protrayal, while sensitive, to be weak. There is no command in his voice or definitive inflection in his delivery... for instance, the refrain of the duel at the Hotel de Bourgogne, that was fairly dramatic as the punctuation(!) to the end of the duel is delivered in the same bantering manner Donat used for the entire ballard... not really bad but bland and uninvolving. Likewise the scenes in Ragueneau's shop, where Cyrano delivers 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 like I believe it should. These were long, confident, almost rallying speeches that seemed to lack conviction in this production.

As for the two other main roles in this production I've made a quick comparison to the Jose Ferrer version (the only other that used the Brian Hooker translation). Roxanne, Marsha Mason is probably a hair better in her delivery, although Marla Powers probably 'acted' more like Roxanne in her glances and gestures. For Christian, this is difficult because his character isn't really as defined by Rostand but I prefer William Prince... because IMHO, the character of Christian isn't a simpleton like the way Marc Singer played it, he just didn't articulate well around women -- we've all experienced the difficulty with speaking to someone we're are interested in; while William Prince didn't make the Christian character particularly strong, he didn't babble through the entire play either. after all, Christian did discern Cyrano's secret and confronted him at the Siege of Arras in Act 4 while torn between his highest desire for Roxanne and the probable loss of this in doing what is right; he had one of my favorite lines in the book, where he tells Cyrano to let Roxanne choose between the soul and the physical shell because, 'I'm tired of being my own rival.' the guy was clearly forthright and can think.

I understand that artistic interpretation is highly subjective, and that's why I am in disagreement with the previous reviewer. In reading the play and watching some of the other productions of Cyrano, I can't imagine Cyrano as anything but decisive (even confidently arrogant due in no small way by his skills and his Gascon pride)... with the except of opening declaring his love for Roxanne. That's why I feel the 1950 version is vastly superior under the Brian Hooker translation and likewise, the more dynamic (and better acted) portrayal by Derek Jacobi is better as well to this production. All in all not a bad production, just not distinguished.

Rating:
Summary: The best Cyrano ever.
Review: When this was first shown on PBS over 25 years ago, I thought it was the best thing I'd ever seen on television, and nothing that has happened in the interim has changed my view. Peter Donat makes a brilliant Cyrano, as good as anyone else has ever played it, but the jewel is Marsha Mason as Roxanne. Roxanne is usually portrayed as a lightweight ingenue, and it's hard to understand Cyrano's affection, but not here. Here is a Roxanne with the wit, grace and style to match Cyrano's own. It makes that aspect of the play more credible, which makes the last scene unbelievably poignant.

I despaired of this ever being on DVD, and it's release is a cause for joy. Buy several copies and give them to your firends.