Cyrano De Bergerac Play

Jennifer Garner, who began her career on the stage in New York before gaining fame as the star of the TV series "Alias," will return to the boards this fall opposite Kevin Kline in a Broadway production of Edmond Rostand's 1897 classic "Cyrano de Bergerac." Garner will play Roxane, the woman whom Cyrano woos in secret, afraid she will shun him because of his large nose. Daniel Sunjata will play the army cadet who uses Cyrano's poetry and love letters to win her.

Jennifer Garner, who began her career on the stage in New York before gaining fame as the star of the TV series "Alias," will return to the boards this fall opposite Kevin Kline in a Broadway production of Edmond Rostand's 1897 classic "Cyrano de Bergerac." Garner will play Roxane, the woman whom Cyrano woos in secret, afraid she will shun him because of his large nose. Daniel Sunjata will play the army cadet who uses Cyrano's poetry and love letters to win her.

When "Cyrano de Bergerac" was first performed on the stage in Paris in 1897, it so impressed a government minister in the audience that he summoned the author, Edmond Rostand, to his balcony loge during the scene change before the final act.

As far as Mark Harelik is concerned, Broadway can keep its Tony Awards medallions. After a quarter-century on America's regional stages, this veteran L.A.-based actor has yet to tread any boards on the Great White Way. But that doesn't mean he lacks for meaningful trophies -- such as the ample collection of huge prosthetic noses he is accumulating in his current turn as Cyrano de Bergerac.

As far as Mark Harelik is concerned, Broadway can keep its Tony Awards medallions. After a quarter-century on America's regional stages, this veteran L.A.-based actor has yet to tread any boards on the Great White Way. But that doesn't mean he lacks for meaningful trophies -- such as the ample collection of huge prosthetic noses he is accumulating in his current turn as Cyrano de Bergerac.

Cyrano de Bergerac's nose, that great symbol for the perils of superficiality, has had tremendous reach over the years. Ever since Edmond Rostand's classic premiered in Paris in 1897, it has had countless reincarnations. There have been numerous dramatic stagings and even a few movies, including Steve Martin's comic take, "Roxanne," up through the latest, last year's version starring Gerard Depardieu as a noble but overbearing egotist of a Cyrano.

If Michelle Pfeiffer, one of the world's most beautiful actresses, can say she is less than happy with her looks because of the way her lips curl downward at the corners of her mouth, then it is easy to understand why Cyrano has such a profound reaction to his giant-size nose. That at least is how Charles Lanyer, the star of "Cyrano de Bergerac" at the Grove Shakespeare Festival, explains what he believes to be "the universal appeal" of Edmond Rostand's crowd-pleasing hero.

It's not often that a member of the audience rises to declare to the crowd, "This is offensive! This is disgusting!" But that's exactly what happened during the first act of the Faye Renee Dinner Theatre production of "The Fantasticks" last week. And the upset spectator was talking about the play, not the performances.

Cyrano de Bergerac's nose, that great symbol for the perils of superficiality, has had tremendous reach over the years. Ever since Edmond Rostand's classic premiered in Paris in 1897, it has had countless reincarnations. There have been numerous dramatic stagings and even a few movies, including Steve Martin's comic take, "Roxanne," up through the latest, last year's version starring Gerard Depardieu as a noble but overbearing egotist of a Cyrano.

When "Cyrano de Bergerac" was first performed on the stage in Paris in 1897, it so impressed a government minister in the audience that he summoned the author, Edmond Rostand, to his balcony loge during the scene change before the final act.

If Michelle Pfeiffer, one of the world's most beautiful actresses, can say she is less than happy with her looks because of the way her lips curl downward at the corners of her mouth, then it is easy to understand why Cyrano has such a profound reaction to his giant-size nose. That at least is how Charles Lanyer, the star of "Cyrano de Bergerac" at the Grove Shakespeare Festival, explains what he believes to be "the universal appeal" of Edmond Rostand's crowd-pleasing hero.