Pretty spot on. The music is wallpaper, a numbing wash of emo grunge. The singing style for Roxanne is that super-trendy. clipped yodel with exaggerated Rs (Arghs!). I felt nothing for any character. It certainly would have been vastly improved by removing every note of music and doing it straight.
1
The musical Cyrano has enough fine moments and outstanding performances that make me recommend it. Although a classic sad and moving tale, this new script also provides lots of opportunities for experiencing spontaneous fits of laughter. Peter Dinklage has a compelling presence and creates quite an endearing Cyrano while Richie Coster excels at portraying barely controlled villainy and rage. Jasmine Cephas Jones has a very lovely voice that makes her character's songs, whether simple or nuanced, sound wonderful. In addition, the rest of the cast perform well together and make for an evening of theater that flows with coherence and style.
1
"(For the record, there have been previous musical versions of “Cyrano,” including at least two forgettable Broadway productions.)"
This old soul has never "forgotten" the 1973 Christopher Plummer musical performance at the Palace calling to mind the tragic business of theatre critics to proclaim worth at the expense of an audience's own reckoning with panache.
1
I will, unfortunately, never see this. It 's so interesting to read such a variety of 'love it or 'hate it'.
Ah, theatre. Nothing better for humans than seeing live theatre. Or creating and performing it. And that's been true for thousands of years.
5
There are no small parts, just small actors.
@jed - that's sobering, to really see the disparity between the meaning of "small" as an objective description vs. a value judgment.
As to small parts, thinking of highlights, like how the pain of Beatrice Straight in "Network" colored the whole Holden-Dunaway relationship [a factor nicely avoided by Ivo von Hove onstage so I'm not despairing that he wants to try dropping "I Feel Pretty" from WSStory], or how Marilyn Cooper joining Lauren Bacall for 6 or 7 minutes at the end of Bway's "Woman of the Year" illuminated not only the moment but suddenly gave the Bacall performance a focused destination where the evening before it had seemed patchwork (like real life is, but usually not satisfying musical theater).
1
My biggest disappointment as well is the editing out of so many lyrical, clever , haunting and quintessential lines. While I agree that Mr Dinklage can carry a tune, his singing did not convey to any convincing degree the depth of emotion that his words, spoken simply, could. I found myself wishing that he could have had the only non-musical part. The point of the story being, of course, that Cyrano's words were more than enough, setting them to music was unnecessary and excluding so many of the play's finest lines was unkind.
5
he stands tall on the shoulders of Giants :)
3
This reviewer is pretty spot on. Peter Dinklage is expressive and magnetic; the rest of the production is forgettable (or worse—memorable for its missteps, such as the gimmicky and distracting choreography).
3
De gustibus... I could not disagree more with this reviewer. I had high expectations after hearing the cast & creative team discuss the play at the Guggenheim. My expectations were surpassed in every possible way. I can only compare the delicate, gossamer magic of this production, built on a spun-steel foundation of brilliant direction, staging, choreography, writing, acting, lighting & music, to Cocteau's "Beauty & the Beast." It was breathtaking. Erica Schmidt's love of & respect for the play translated into one of the most exquisite evenings of theater I have ever experienced. Yes, okay - Peter Dinklage is in it, and that sells tickets. But while Dinklage is excellent, so is the rest of the ensemble, and they work AS an ensemble. I may have walked into the theater because I knew I could expect a superb performance by Peter Dinklage, but I walked out thinking, "Anything and everything Erica Schmidt is involved in creatively from now on - I'm seeing it."
7
I saw it in previews, the night the creative team gave a talkback afterwards. The show is borderline dreadful. It's fully underscored throughout, so there is absolutely no let up in what little tension is happening. The only scene I thought was really well done was the battle in Act II. Peter Dinklage's singing voice isn't awful, but it also doesn't meet the quality of anyone else in the show. Poor Jasmine Cephas Jones, a lovely young woman with a gorgeous voice, was put in the most unflattering costumes and made to utter lyrics like "Oh Cyrano, I won't let you go" in melodies that didn't suit her talents at all. I wanted to like it. I really did. But I didn't.
3
Peter Dinklage is mesmerizing !
7
Loved it -- it's like being at a The National show but with a story, delivered by a very talented cast. Thoroughly enjoyed and am impressed with the show. See it, especially if you're a fan of The National. Check out their record "High Violet" if you need an intro.
5
"With melodies that bring to mind the sort of Leonard Cohen numbers you listen to when you have a hangover, and really want to feel bad, these songs throb with compelling masochism." Wow, what a wonderfully evocative description! I remember doing almost exactly that - not after a night of drinking, but in high school after my first serious breakup. I wanted to play music that would hurt, and Leonard Cohen did the trick. Thanks Ben, for bringing back some not-so-fond memories.
4
The best musical Cyrano was the 1973 production with book and lyrics by Anthony Burgess and music by Michael J. Lewis. What made it was the breathtaking performance by a young Christopher Plummer in the title role, one of the most spellbinding performances and by far the best Cyrano I have ever seen. At the end the theater was awash in tears, and I am my fellow attendees had tears running down our faces while we were laughing at the incredible theatrical manipulation that made that happen. What Plummer did was beyond compare. One of my gfreatest theatrical experiences.
12
My wife and I went to Cyrano to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. WE LOVED everything about it and there are no weak moments or performances.
This is a gem and ABSOLUTELY worth seeing!
5
How disappointing, I was all set it immediately get tickets when I saw Richie Coster is in the show - but I have enough angst in my own life - along with melancholy. Hmm. . . .
I see the argument that many theater people say that if everything eventually winds up on video, a segment of theatergoers may just wait for the video to finally become available. But this seems like it could, because of its star, do well as an HBO event. It will play much better in close-up.
@Freddie This could not do well even as an end of the year's production of the after class drama group of your local high school.
2
@Johan Cruyff, there's some of what they lump together as B-roll material (totally legitimate, though there's some fan stuff too) that's been on the net. (I had the links and I can't imagine why they're not there now. Maybe some was from Goodspeed or an earlier venue?? The fan stuff is still there.)
But you may be amazed it's the same moments as what you saw onstage, for this one - and the goodwill a real star we love brings does matter in this role, as it did when Christopher Plummer did that old musical "Cyrano." (also with not having the "Cyrano" version that did well and ended up at Two River so recent.)
But I found it such a fascinating idea so worth preserving, not so subtly wonder how we'd react to someone who looked exactly like Peter Dinklage if he weren't THE Peter Dinklage; but of course he is THE Peter Dinklage. (How would we react to someone who behaved like Kanye if he weren't THE Kanye?).
This sentence "Yet Dinklage, unadorned by any prosthesis, has a handsome but unexceptional nose," and that you don't want your nose to be exceptional, really reminded me of the odd mixed feeling getting the results of one of those medical scans and in the result it said my "pancreas - unremarkable." That is of course what you want your pancreas to be - yet it was like when I really didn't want to get on a jury because the defendant and his "connections" sounded scary, but the wanting to be special made me wonder anyway "Why didn't they pick me?"
2