That's my reflection in the mirrored part of the
poster.
David was fantastic. There was a review that mentioned that he enters from the back of the theatre. Well, I had an end seat and he walked down my aisle. He stopped just a few feet from me to deliver a couple of lines (in a booming voice) Wow!
One of my cousins joked later that I should have asked for his autograph.
My cousins loved it as much as I did. They were hesitant at first, because they had heard some bad reviews from friends, but they loved it and thought David was great.
I had trouble with the first scene. The supporting cast is somewhat over the top and exaggerated, but only for that scene. I did think it was a bit too much, and David had to act up to rise above it. Once that scene ended, things picked up and the play was great from there.
David is on stage for nearly the entire play. He had so many lines. And he was often shouting. It's amazing that he doesn't lose his voice. Especially after two performances today.
He was hilarious, witty, serious and caring. One funny scene that stands out is when he's trying to distract someone who is in love with Roxane and he makes the person believe that he (Cyrano) fell from the moon. He crouched down until he looked 3 feet tall and "walked" all around the stage with his cape wrapped around him so you couldn't see his legs. We were hysterical.
He danced, sang (a little) and ran all over the stage. The singing was more of a half chant, half sing. Think of Father Damien He did one verse, then his men joined in for a loud chorus and that was it. He was suave and witty, and clever and cunning. David needed a lot of energy even just for the speeches, many of which were very long and highly emotional.
It was great and a lot of fun seeing him perform in person.
As for David's voice: yes, it was nice to listen to, and at first it was the one thing that convinced me it was him and not an understudy As the play went on, I managed to catch a few of his familiar facial expressions. Even though he had that big nose, when he spoke in a grand fashion, he often tilted his head up so you could see his lips moving
On the subject of accents, very few people used a French accent. David didn't. It was more like English (as in from England). Alex Menglet (who was also in The Brush-Off) was one of the few who used a French accent. I heard some Australian and some cockney there as well.
I think David's voice was more like Carl's (when Carl wasn't scared). Maybe a mixture of Carl and Faramir. Carl when he would wax lyrical, and Faramir when he was in full fight mode.
It was interesting seeing David pantomime certain things. In one scene Cyrano gives Christian some pebbles to throw at Roxane's window. Since there was no real window, there was no need to have David pick up real pebbles. He just leaned down, grasped at the floor and handed Christian air, and we were supposed to pretend they were pebbles I just found it amusing after all this time of seeing him use real props.
David performed in a very grand fashion, moving around the stage, be it walking or running or skipping. He did stand still too. At those points most often he'd have one leg up on the seat of a chair. In one scene (the battle scene, I think), he stood on a chair with his left leg on top of the back of it. Even during scenes where he was more somber and serious, he would still just steal the scene with his gestures and movements around the stage.
Here are the highlights:
In the beginning of the play a poet in a loud costume starts to recite a composition in front a group of people. "No more!" a voice bellows from the back of the theatre. A dark figure wearing a large chapeau (hat) can barely be seen in the dimness of the theatre.
The audience on stage tells the performer to continue and ignore the outburst. The man starts again.
The dark figure takes a few steps closer and shouts again. Terrified, the performer is unsure if he should continue, but the audience eggs him on, so he starts again.
By now David is standing only a few feet from me and the light is shining on him, but all we can see is his hat covering his face. Again he orders the man to cease.
At this point the performer is shaking in his shoes. Cyrano steps onto the main stage and demands the man leaves the stage, or he will kill him. He whips out his sword (David's cape got in the way for a second causing a couple of people in the audience to laugh, but he never faltered). The spectators jump to their feet, and some chairs spill over. He leaps onto the smaller stage. He towers over the cowering man, holding his sword to him. The man runs off.
When someone gets angry over Cyrano's rudeness, he taunts the man. "Are you staring at my nose?" Cyrano asks him.
Shaken the man quickly covers, "No. Of course not."
"You think it's rather large, don't you?" Cyrano asks accusingly.
The man stammers. "No...on the contrary. I find it quite...." His voice raises to a very high pitch. "...Petite."
Cyrano mocks his pitch, squeaking out, "Petite?" Then in a normal voice (except for the word petite), "You think my nose is petite?" He marches around the stage speaking grandly, "No, Monsieur it's not petite. It's rather large. It's huge! It's enormous."
Then comes one of my favorite scenes. Cyrano lists several different metaphors for what his nose is like. I wish I could remember them all. One was "Ah to love the birds so much you build them this out of nails and glue." And in reference to a court trial, "Pinocchio, I knew you were guilty."
When another man accuses Cyrano of being a coward, he keeps his cool and slaps the man's face with his glove. Soon the two men draw swords (from this point forward David has an easier time drawing his sword from the first try. I should add that when he walked around the stage with it sheathed, he was very careful to raise the scabbard when walking around chairs and sitting down ). They circle each other while the crowd watches in horror. Cyrano says he will fight the man and compose an ode at the same time. They commence fighting. Cyrano is a much more skilled fighter as he leaps around the stage and reciting his improvised ode while fighting his opponent. At one point he dances around the chairs.
By the end of the second verse, Cyrano has knocked the sword out of the man's hand and has his foot on it. He can kill the man at any point, but instead he says, "Verse three." He recites the third verse, then, "And now, the coda." He closes his poem and then stabs the man in the heart.
After the fight, Cyrano is hungry. He has no money. A young female vendor learns of this. She offers her food to Cyrano for no charge. He graciously refuses, then accepts, thanking her. He takes a cup of water, half a cracker (the other half he gives to her) and one grape. He asks for her hand and kisses it. She blushes and leaves.
Cyrano sets his "meal" on the seat of a chair and sits in another one opposite it, giving thanks for his meal. (Here he especially sounds a lot like Carl when he was gathering the items together for Van Helsing to take with him). He points to the water and says, "I have an appetizer - some soup." He picks up the cracker. "A main course." He holds up the grape. "And, finally, dessert." He savors every morsel, even to the point of interrupting his good friend who is in the midst of a discussion with him. Cyrano holds up the grape. "Please. It's time for dessert." He pops it into his mouth and savors every bit of it.
When Cyrano is told that Roxane wishes to meet with him, he is so elated that when a friend asks for his help against 100 attackers he takes them all on himself. The fight is done in a form of a dance with David swinging his sword and leaping around the stage stabbing his opponents, while smoke floats over the stage and loud crashing music sets the tone.
At their agreed meeting place, a pastry shop, Roxane and her mistress Duenna arrive. Cyrano doesn't want Duenna around, so he grabs a rolled piece of paper and tosses several small pastries into it. David is very amusing in this scene, just tossing the treats into the air and catching them inside the cone shaped paper.
Just as Roxane is about to tell Cyrano about Christian, Duenna reappears. Not even 5 minutes have passed (more like 2 or 3) and she had finished all the pastries. Cyrano frantically gives her another task and she leaves.
In a later scene at Roxane's, Cyrano is helping Christian muster up the nerve to talk to her. He asks his friend Ligniere to keep warn them in case someone comes. He asks Ligniere to play a happy turn on his flute if it's a female, and a sad tune if it's a male. After Ligniere leaves, Cyrano leans down, picks up some pebbles and places them in Christian's hand. The young man is at a loss. Cyrano says, "Throw them." Christian shrugs, turns away from Roxane's and is about to throw them, when Cyrano says, "At her window."
Christian tosses the stones and we hear them rattle against glass. Roxane comes outside and with Cyrano's help Christian wins her over. But not for long. He trips up on a few words, not hearing them correctly. Then Cyrano mutters, "I can't take any more of this." Christian repeats it. This confuses Roxane. Things don't get any better. Frustrated, Cyrano knocks Christian's hat off and in haste he starts to speak for him, grabbing Christian's hat and putting it on his head, hiding his nose. He masks his voice (not too much - just slightly different).
Soon a happy tune is heard in the distance. Cyrano whispers, "Someone is coming." Using his disguised voice he tells Roxane to hide. She does so while Christian keeps himself hidden as well.
"A woman," Cyrano says, but soon the tune changes to a sad one. "A man as well?"
But it's neither. It's a monk! He asks for directions to Roxane's home, and Cyrano steers him on the wrong path. The monk moves on.
They continue where they left off. Cyrano, still pretending to be Christian, goes on and on.
The monk agrees. Cyrano asks him how long it would take to perform the ceremony and he says 3 hours. Cyrano offers him money and again asks how long. The monk replies, "Five minutes."
Cyrano is satisfied with this.
The monk, Christian, Roxane and Ligniere disappear behind the curtain as horses hooves could be heard in the distance. Cyrano crouches down until he's about 3 feet tall, his cape covering his feet, and his hat concealing his nose in the dark night.
De Guiche arrives wearing a puny mask to hide his identity incase someone from his regiments spotted him. He does not recognize Cyrano, who whines, "Oooh. Ooh." De Guiche asks him what is wrong, and Cyrano launches into a story about how he fell from the moon (his voice is high pitched, but not like Carl when he's scared.).
Cyrano goes on and on, scurrying around the stage, not letting De Guiche leave as he tells his story.
After several minutes and some elaborate storytelling, Cyrano moves to the curtain once more and then rises to his full height, revealing himself to De Guiche. Soon the monk emerges with the now married couple. De Guiche is furious. In retaliation, he orders Cyrano's regiment to the front.
The next act opens on the front lines. In the foreground we see Cyrano's men asleep on the ground. In the distance we see Cyrano running across enemy lines to mail a letter.
Meanwhile the men are awoken. It is early and they haven't eaten in days. They start to complain about their hunger and soon cry mutiny. Le Bret has tried vainly to calm them, but it's no use. Soon Cyrano arrives and Le Bret asks where he's been. "Mailing a letter," he replies. Le Bret comments that Cyrano has been writing to Roxane three times a day since they arrived, and crossing enemy lines to mail them. Cyrano doesn't seem to mind. Besides he learned a few things about the Spanish armies while he was on his postal run.
But that can wait. Le Bret begs him for help. Cyrano is carrying a small book with him. He starts to recite a poem, but Le Bret tells him they need food not words. Cyrano tosses his small book into an overturned hat and says, "Feed them The Iliad. It will remind them of Homer." (we all groaned and laughed at that one).
Soon a carriage arrives with Ligniere driving. Roxane and Raganeau emerge. She could not stay away from Christian any longer.
Cyrano quickly steals Christian aside and tells him about the letters. Up to this point he had no idea that Cyrano was writing her so often. Christian realizes that Cyrano is in love with Roxane. He begs Cyrano to tell her, but he refuses. Instead he hands Christian a "last letter" for in case he died in battle.
Not long after this Christian has a private moment with Roxane where she brings up the letters and tells him she's no longer attracted to him physically. She says she'd love him if he was the ugliest man on earth. Christian goes back to Cyrano and tells him this, but he doesn't want to believe it. Christian implores him to tell her the truth. He leaves Cyrano and heads out to battle.
Cyrano approaches Roxane and asks her if she would love Christian if he were ugly. She says yes. Stunned he starts to tell her the truth, but they're interrupted by the men carrying a fatally wounded Christian. Cyrano can't bear to ruin things for them now, so he tells Christian that he "told Roxane everything. It is you she loves." Christian dies happy. Cyrano pulls out the last letter from Christian's pocket and gives it to Roxane.
He then joins his men as they retaliate for Christian's death. They load their muskets and fire toward the audience (toward me - ouch!). Cyrano climbs the lookout and fires (David fired twice. It was very loud and smoky). Everyone leaves the scene except Cyrano, who gazes sadly into the distance. He stays on the lookout and the entire ruin is wheeled off stage.
14 years later, Roxane lives at a nunnery, still mourning for Christian. She sits in a chair doing embroidery. A couple of nuns sit a few feet behind her. They discuss Cyrano visiting every Saturday at 4pm every year for the past 14 years, and how he's never late.
They also joke about how he likes to tell Roxane the events of the week. She calls it the "Gazette". They remark about how much they enjoy it when he teases the nuns, and how they always try to get him to be religious. One of them says she prays for him all the time.
A clock tolls 4pm. Some seconds pass as they all wait for his arrival. For the first time he is late. Finally he arrives, but he is having trouble walking and he has a bandage on his head, hidden by his hat. The nuns see him first and rise from their chairs. It's time for their prayers, but they want to greet him first. They notice how unsteady he is. Roxane doesn't see as she has her back to him, but she hears his voice and is pleased he made it.
His speech is slow and sluggish as he slumps into a chair, resisting the nun's help. This chair is a few feet behind and to the left of Roxane. She still cannot see him, keeping her hands busy on her own embroidery project.
She does notice that he has not teased the nuns yet. He realizes this and does so. Then he grasps one of the nun's hands and says, "Today you can pray for me."
She gets excited. "I've been praying for you every day." The two nuns leave.
Roxane asks for the gazette, and Cyrano slowly talks about the week's events, starting with last Saturday. By the time he reaches this particular Saturday his voice trails off, his head lolls forward and his right arm drops. Roxane grows concerned. She turns and calls out his name, but he doesn't respond. She rises and goes to him. She touches his arm and calls out his name again. This time he awakens and blames an old war wound. She seems to accept it.
They bring up Christian, and Cyrano asks to read his last letter. Roxane hands it to him and returns to her embroidery. It is growing darker and Cyrano reads the letter aloud. At first it looks like he's reading, but then he raises his head and recites from memory. His voice changes and Roxane realizes that it sounds familiar. Noticing the darkening sky she turns to Cyrano, who quickly pretends to be reading, but she knows better. She adds things up and realizes it was Cyrano all along writing the letters and professing his love to her.. She tells him she loves him, but it's too late now.
Le Bret arrives and the truth is revealed. Cyrano was ambushed and took a nasty blow to the head. He removes his hat to reveal the bandage and tells of how he never expected to die in such a manner.
He talks but some of his words are gibberish. He rises to his feet and speaks of a great foe ahead of him (death) and pulls out his sword and stabs the air as he speaks as he always done with lyrical, poetic candor. This time about the impending darkness falling upon him.
He wavers and can stand no longer. He collapses onto the floor (his head and shoulders into Roxane's arms), and says his final words, then dies.
The lights fade out. The end.
The audience cheered loudly. When David took his bows everyone whistled and cheered. I think many were hoping for several curtain calls, because applause continued after they left the stage.
David took several bows solo and several with the rest of the cast. He was still very much in character, tipping his nose in the air before he bent at the waist. I really wanted him to be himself, but I suspect it was better not to step out of character
