A Noble Cyrano “Cyrano De Bergerac,” A Famous Yet Difficult Production, Is Well Cast And Well Mastered With Excitement And Humor

“Cyrano de Bergerac,” through March 11 at the Spokane Civic Theatre, call 325-2507 for reservations<

Edmond Rostand’s “Cyrano de Bergerac” is one of the most famous plays in history. Yet how often do you see it produced?

Not very often, because it is diabolically difficult to do. It has a big cast (25 people, in this version) and it requires five different sets. The stage has to pass for a bakery kitchen at one point, a French battlefield the next.

The Civic Theatre doesn’t completely master the play’s difficulties in this elaborate and often-exciting production, but it comes close. The lion’s share of the credit goes to Maynard Villers, who makes an excellent Cyrano.

Villers (a KSBN-AM radio announcer by day) has a deep, rich, trained voice, perfect for conveying the charisma and command of Cyrano’s personality. It’s a voice that people gravitate to, that people listen to, a voice so commanding that whenever he utters a line, he immediately becomes the center of attention.

Villers wisely emphasizes the forceful aspects of Cyrano’s personality, and de-emphasizes the buffoonery. I never saw Cyrano as a clown or a victim or a whiner. When you consider he has to run around for nearly three hours in a four-inch nose, that’s quite a tribute to Villers. I was indebted to Villers for this interpretation, because it made the story far more than the story of a poor sap frustrated in love; it became a story of nobility and altruism. It gave the final scene great impact.

When the play clicked, which it did in many scenes, it was as exciting as something out of “Les Miserables.” The battle scene, in particular, crackled with energy (and gunfire). One moment, when a little boy is gunned down, is as chilling as any moment I’ve seen on stage this year. This whole sequence was well-staged by director John G. Phillips.

There were many other well-done scenes. For pure comedy, the best was the scene in which the not-toobright Christian (played well by Troy M. Burke) attempts to woo the beautiful Roxane (nicely played by Kyrsten Lee) using words supplied by Cyrano. This is almost as funny as the Steve Martin version of this scene in the film “Roxanne.”

However, not every scene was quite so compelling. A few scenes seemed to wander aimlessly, a tone which was set in the play’s confusing beginning, when characters wandered on and off the stage for no apparent reason. The beginning of Act Two, the bakery scene, also took a very long time to kick itself into gear, although once it did, it became one of the best scenes in the show. This occasional vagueness can be a bit deadening in a show this long (three hours, including two intermissions).

The huge supporting cast labored under a bit of a handicap: There were so many of them, and they were so heavily bearded and be-wigged, they were hard-pressed to create distinguishable personas. It also didn’t help that a lot of the dialogue comes off as stiff and expository, although that problem seems to lie more with Rostand and his translator, Brian Hooker.

The best and most-distinct character actor was Matthew Flanders, who made the Comte de Guiche into a vain and spoiled fop. As the play goes on, we watch as the Comte de Guiche rather miraculously gains some honor and integrity.

Other good performances came from Christopher L. Goodwin, Rick Douglas, Breece Welton-Bowen, and Gail Betty, as well as from Burke and Lee.

Peter Hardie performs his usual magic with the sets and lights, creating a sumptuous stage-hall in one scene, a gritty bakery in another, a moody, romantic moonlit balcony in another.

The costumes, by Dee Finan, Jeannette Esther, Jan Wanless and Toni Gilmartin, are equally impressive. Not only do these sumptuous costumes set a tone of time and place, but they subtly add shades of insight into the individual characters. The show is constantly fascinating for the eyes.

In the end, patience is rewarded in this production of “Cyrano.” If you find your attention wandering sometimes, just wait a few minutes: A duel of swords, or of wits, is always just around the corner.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with story: Highlight: The stirring, smoke-filled battle scene