Frank Langella's Cyrano from City Lights Theater Company
City Lights Theater (529 South Second Street San Jose, CA 95112)
- Full Price:
- $28.00
- Our Price:
- $14.00*
* Additional fees apply.
All offers for Frank Langella's Cyrano have expired.
The last date listed for Frank Langella's Cyrano was Saturday April 17, 2010 / 8:00pm.
Currently at City Lights Theater:
Thrilling Dark Comedy Aphrodisiac: The Case of the Congressman and the Missing Intern
- Full Price:
- $28.00
- Our Price:
- FREE - $14.00
A member of congress is suspected in the disappearance of his young female intern. It's a story that played itself out in newspaper headlines across the nation when Chandra Levy disappeared in 2001. Inspired by those real-life events, Rob Handel's Aphrodisiac takes a look at a similar (though fictional) situation from another viewpoint -- that of the congressman's grown children. Avery and Alma struggle together with unanswerable questions: Was their father, congressman Dan Ferris, having an affair with the young intern Ilona Waxman? Did he have anything to do with her disappearance? In their search for clues, they come across the most famous intern of all, Monica Lewinsky. Learn More
Goldstar Member Tips
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Goldstar Member on Where to Eat
Nice selection of treats and wine
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Goldstar Member on Where to Park
Some street parking or an inexpensive paid lot across the street
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Goldstar Member on What to Wear
Casual
Goldstar Member Reviews
ejdtbg
Not a bad seat in the house. Intimate theater experience with a cast and crew that pulled off the Cyrano experience with 'panache'. The danger may lie in the front rows of any section because the swordfight is boisterous and although well crafted may lead to some unexpected realism. The final scene was worth the price of admission; an emotional climax worthy of any screenwriters' hopes or desires. Bravo so-to-speak.Written on Mar 29 2010
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Goldstar Member
I'm glad to see that other reviewers enjoyed themselves. My experience was radically different from theirs. I found the entire experience to be a semi-appalling and not at all amusing joke. I'm sorry, but from start to finish everything about this piece seemed amateurish and ill-conceived. Cyrano is WAY too ambitious a piece for these performers. I hate to be overly critical, but in the interest of honesty I will just say that there wasn't a shred of competence on display anywhere in the cast. Most egregious was Cyrano himself. Wow. That about sums it up. It was one of the most pompous, affected, pretentious, unimaginitave and painfully amateurish performances I've ever had the misfortune of paying to see (and driving 1.5 hours round trip). If others liked it, wonderful. But for myself...wow. It was startlingly, painfully awful. The only thing that could save this project in my mind would be to dismantle it completely and start again from scratch. Cyrano - what is UP with that accent???? It was ludicrous, affected and downright foolish. But what made it worse was that it kept changing, and sometimes disappeared completely, only to reappear when I had finally relaxed enough to let down my guard. Ouchie, my brain has a boo-boo. Cyrano requires tremendous subtlety and sensitivity, not pompous posturing. Little tip for the cast: when one person is speaking, it's a good idea to listen to them, so you can respond appropriately. Otherwise you're just waiting your turn to talk. I wish you all the best, but from my perspective this was NOT a piece of theater you can justify charging the public to see.Written on Apr 19 2010
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Alex
Great performance by the main actor (sorry, I don't remember his name). good support by all others.Written on Apr 19 2010
I like the small theater setting.
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Maggie
More Information About Frank Langella's Cyrano
Website
Quotes & Highlights
- "Frank Langella has abridged the text and given the play a bare-bones production shorn of extravagance. Cyrano is compelling enough in its characterizations, dialogue and situations to withstand minimalism." --Hollywood Reporter
- "Frank Langella's adaptation is relatively short, fast and intimate. The speed of the shortened version allows the ideas behind the play to emerge with great force and clarity. The result is a terrifically enjoyable and surprising thought-provoking piece of theater." --Daily News
Description
Frank Langella’s Cyrano, is a pared down adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac. This story is about poet and swordsman, Cyrano de Bergerac who believes that his enormous nose makes him unworthy of love. To satisfy his own taste for romance, he aids the handsome Christian in wooing the beautiful Roxane, the woman they both love. Christian becomes the vessel for the passionate missives that fly from Cyrano’s pen to Roxane’s heart. But as Roxane finds herself ever more intoxicated by the heady cocktail of Cyrano’s heartfelt words and Christian’s dashing good looks, both men are left to wonder to which of them her heart truly belongs – until fate steps in and reveals to her at last the surprising truth that Cyrano has spent a lifetime concealing.
Edmond Rostand’s original Cyrano de Bergerac debuted in Paris in 1897, and was performed in rhyming couplets of 12 syllables per line. In 1899 a translated Broadway production opened and later was revived in 1923, 1946, and 1984. The play itself is one of the most popular in the French language, has been filmed numerous times (i.e.: Roxanne with Steve Martin), and was even made into an opera. This universally endearing story of unrequited love makes this play a huge success and an audience favorite.
Actor, director, producer, screenwriter and three time Tony Award winner Frank Langella (who had played Cyrano twice in his life before) adapted Edmond Rostand’s classic love story Cyrano de Bergerac and pared it down to bare bones. The things that Frank Langella recognized were that this play could be performed by a much smaller cast/ensemble, performed at small theaters or anywhere for that matter, and could be stripped of some of its more archaic language to become more accessible to a younger generation. Frank Langella’s Cyrano was first produced and performed in the 1997-1998 season by the Roundabout Theater in New York City. Frank not only adapted and directed the play but then also starred as the conflicted Cyrano in his own play.
Kit Wilder (Director/Fight Director) has directed countless productions in the Bay Area, from Shakespeare and the classics to musical theatre and contemporary drama. He has also staged fights and other mayhem for countless more. A graduate of Santa Clara University, Kit has received training in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and with members of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and from the Academy of the Sword and members of the Society of American Fight Directors. For City Lights, Kit currently serves as Associate Artistic Director, and has directed acclaimed productions of Assassins, Wise Women, String of Pearls, both parts of Angels in America (Millennium Approaches and Perestroika), The Goat, A Few Good Men, and The Who’s Tommy. He also wrote last season’s World Premiere adaptation of The Three Musketeers.
The cast features the Founder and Artistic Director of ComedySportz, San Jose’s longest-running show, Jeff Kramer (The Taming of the Shrew, Speed the Plow) playing Cyrano de Bergerac who is as good with the sword as he is with poetry, but because of his enormous nose does not believe himself worthy of love. Cyrano is secretly in love with the beautiful Roxane, played by Sarah Griner (Speed the Plow), but Cyrano’s handsome friend Christian played by Joshua Mark (The Shape of Things, The Three Musketeers) publicly wishes for Roxane’s love. Since Christina has no eloquence when it comes to words of the heart Cyrano offers to help him win the love of Roxane by using him as a vessel for his poetry and heartfelt words. With this we enter the love triangle that is Frank Langella’s Cyrano de Bergerac!
Other cast members include: Robert Campbell (Valvert/Soldier), David Hamilton (Carbon), Steve Lambert (Ragueneau), Lucinda Dobinson (Lise), Derek McCaw (Montfleury/Priest/Soldier), Charles McKeithan (De Guiche), Shareen Merriam (Marguerite), and Ron Talbot (Le Bret)
About the Ticket Supplier: City Lights Theater Company
The City Lights Theater Company (CLTC) is San Jose's Off-Broadway theatre company and presents adventurous live stage productions in an intimate flexible environment. CLTC is committed to the community by providing their audiences with affordable, quality theatre and opportunities for local artists.