The Call Is Places 2018–2019 SUBSCRIBER NEWSLETTER Cyrano de Bergerac March 16 – May 5 McGuire Proscenium Stage WELCOME From Artistic Director Joseph Haj SEASON 2018–2019 Frankenstein – Playing with Fire Sept 15 – Oct 27, 2018 Dear Friends, Wurtele Thrust Stage In the late 1800s, Parisians were enthralled with the theater. Nearly one Noises Off million people went to the theater monthly and a half-million attended Oct 27 – Dec 16, 2018 at least once a week. It’s not surprising that France fell in love with McGuire Proscenium Stage Cyrano de Bergerac — and for far more than just its witty, large-nosed protagonist. The French adore stories that examine where beauty truly A Christmas Carol resides, such as Beauty and the Beast, Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Nov 13 – Dec 29, 2018 Dame and Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince. Wurtele Thrust Stage Perhaps that’s why Edmond Rostand felt compelled to write Cyrano The Great Leap during a volatile time in French history that was rife with political Jan 12 – Feb 10, 2019 McGuire Proscenium Stage unrest. France had lost its position as a world leader rather capriciously, the country was deeply divided and most of the plays being written As You Like It addressed the social ills of the day. Feb 9 – March 17, 2019 Wurtele Thrust Stage Rostand chose to write a heart-forward, romantic story for a cynical age. He was so sure Cyrano would be received poorly that hours before curtain Cyrano on opening night, he found himself apologizing to his lead actor, Benoît- de Bergerac Constant Coquelin, for the fiasco he feared his play would become. Yet it March 16 – May 5, 2019 was one of the most legendary opening nights in the history of theater as McGuire Proscenium Stage the audience applauded for over an hour after the final curtain — proof that people were eager for something beyond the culture’s mounting cynicism. Metamorphoses April 13 – May 19, 2019 In that spirit, I’m thrilled to bring Rostand’s brilliant tale to our Guthrie Wurtele Thrust Stage audiences. Together with this gifted cast and creative team, we’ve created a production that seeks to explore the question of true beauty. As Saint- Guys and Dolls Exupéry wrote in The Little Prince a half-century after Cyrano, “It is June 22 – Aug 25, 2019 only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible Wurtele Thrust Stage to the eye.” Floyd’s July 27 – Aug 25, 2019 McGuire Proscenium Stage Yours, Visit guthrietheater.org for additional productions and play descriptions. 2 \ GUTHRIE THEATER PHOTO: KERI PICKETT Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand adapted and directed by Joseph Haj The Guthrie gratefully recognizes Cast William & Penny George & the George in alphabetical order Family Foundation as Platinum Producers; The David & Leni Moore Family Foundation and John & Kathy RAGUENEAU Ansa Akyea* Junek as Leading Producers; Benjamin Y. H. & Helen C. Liu, Jim & Julie Chosy LE BRET Remy Auberjonois* and Martha Goldberg Aronson & Dan Aronson as Producers; and Abdhish & CUIGY/THIRD POET/SIXTH CADET Robert O. Berdahl* Mary Bhavsar and Antone & Genevieve Melton-Meaux as Associate Producers. FIRST LADY/SECOND CADET/ Kaitlyn Boyer† SISTER CLAIRE Setting MARQUIS/MUSKETEER/FIFTH CADET Nate Cheeseman Paris, France and Arras, Spanish Netherlands, 1640 SECOND CAVALIER/FOURTH POET/ Fernando Collado* SECOND PAGE/SPANISH VOICES Run Time Approximately 2 hours, 45 minutes COUNT de GUICHE Cameron Folmar* (including intermission) ROXANE Jennie Greenberry* Essentials DUENNA/MOTHER MARGUERITE Charity Jones* Maura Gillespie, Tyler Lueck, Kristin Nelson, Jasmine Porter, CHRISTIAN Robert Lenzi* Tucker Brewster Schuster, Jake Stone, Chaz Truog, Joseph Vang MONTFLEURY/CUSTOMER/SENTRY Joel Liestman* FIRST CAVALIER/FOURTH CADET/ Mark Mazzarella† MUSICAL PAGE ACTRESS/LISE/NUN Andrea Mislan* BRISSAILLE/SECOND POET/ David O’Connell† FIRST PAGE BELLEROSE/FIRST POET/ Jason Rojas* FIRST CADET CYRANO de BERGERAC Jay O. Sanders* VALVERT/THIRD CADET Eric Schabla BUFFET GIRL/SISTER MARTHA Christine Weber* *Member of Actors’ Equity Association †Student in the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater B.F.A. Actor Training Program 3 \ GUTHRIE THEATER Creative Team Understudies Robert O. Berdahl* (Count de Guiche), Kaitlyn Boyer† (First Cavalier/ Fifth Cadet), Nate Cheeseman ADAPTER/DIRECTOR Joseph Haj (Christian), Casey E. Lewis* (Le Bret/Montfleury/Customer/ SCENIC DESIGNER McKay Coble Sentry), Joel Liestman* (Ragueneau), Mark Mazzarella† (Marquis/Musketeer), COSTUME DESIGNER Jan Chambers Andrea Mislan* (Buffet Girl/Sister Martha), David O’Connell† (Cuigy/ LIGHTING DESIGNER Rui Rita Third Poet), Christine Weber* (Roxane) Understudies never substitute for performers SOUND DESIGNER Elisheba Ittoop unless announced prior to the performance. COMPOSER Jack Herrick Acknowledgments DRAMATURG Carla Steen Adapted from the English translations by Gertrude Hall and Gladys Thomas/ VOICE AND TEXT COACH Robert Ramirez Mary F. Guillemard. FIGHT DIRECTOR Kara Wooten Joseph Haj wishes to acknowledge Michael Cumpsty, Todd London and MOVEMENT CONSULTANT Maija García Tom Quaintance for their valuable feedback on the script. INTIMACY CONSULTANT Lauren Keating A special thanks to Mme. Maureen STAGE MANAGER Katie Hawkinson* Peltier from Saint Paul’s Central High School for providing French language ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER Michele Hossle* assistance. ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Seonjae Kim NYC CASTING CONSULTANT McCorkle Casting, Ltd. DESIGN ASSISTANTS Ryan Connealy (lighting) Lisa Jones (costumes) Julie Zumsteg (sound) FIGHT CAPTAIN Robert O. Berdahl* 4 \ GUTHRIE THEATER THE PLAY “I’ll lend you my words, and you lend me your face. Together we’ll make one storybook hero!” – Cyrano to Christian in Cyrano de Bergerac CHARACTERS Cyrano de Bergerac, a poet and soldier Roxane, his cousin and a précieuse Christian, a soldier in Cyrano’s company Duenna, Roxane’s companion Count de Guiche, a nobleman and soldier Valvert, his friend and Roxane’s suitor Cuigy, a marquis Brissaille, a marquis Le Bret, the captain of the Gascony Guards Synopsis Ragueneau, a baker and poet Lise, his wife Cyrano de Bergerac is a poet, soldier and consummate swordsman with Montfleury, an actor a prominent nose that keeps him from declaring his love for Roxane. But Bellerose, an actor and that’s his only vulnerability — he bullies actors from the stage, battles theater manager a hundred swordsmen alone, fights alongside his company of Gascon cadets and composes impeccable verse on the spot. Mother Marguerite, an abbess at the convent When Roxane tells him she loves a handsome new cadet named Christian, Sister Claire, a nun at the Cyrano selflessly takes the tongue-tied young man under his wing convent and helps him woo Roxane, who revels in language and poetry. Their Sister Martha, a nun at the plan works perfectly until Christian goes rogue and decides to speak convent for himself. Other characters include cadets, poets, pages and But Christian and Cyrano aren’t Roxane’s only suitors. The powerful Count cavaliers as well as a marquis, de Guiche, who is no fan of Cyrano, has his own designs on Roxane. When actress, lady, buffet girl, the cadets are sent to war abroad, it is during the siege of Arras that love, musketeer and sentry. heroism and the true Gascon heart are revealed. 5 \ GUTHRIE THEATER PHOTOS: COSTUME SKETCHES BY JAN CHAMBERS THE AUTHOR Edmond Rostand Born April 1, 1868, in Marseille, France, to a family that counted poets and a composer among their ranks, ROSTAND’S WRITINGS Edmond Rostand was a quiet, intense student who enjoyed 1888 The Red Glove, written with Henry Lee, premieres at designing stage sets and costumes for his puppet theater. Cluny Theatre By adolescence, he was named “school poet” and began to publish his poetry in the local magazine Mireille. 1890 Publishes poetry collection Les Musardises At age 16, Rostand went to Paris to The play was almost immediately 1894 The Romancers premieres attend the Collège Stanislas, where translated into other languages at Comédie-Française he excelled at French composition, and produced around the world. history and philosophy. He also 1895 The Princess Far-Away studied law to please his father In 1901, Rostand was the youngest premieres at Renaissance Theatre but pursued his literary interests writer to be elected to the by writing plays and poems. prestigious French Academy. 1897 The Woman of Samaria premieres at Renaissance Theatre His first play was produced in His next play, Chanticleer, finally 1888, and in 1890, he published a appeared in 1910 after delays due 1897 Cyrano de Bergerac poetry collection, Les Musardises. to Rostand’s health. The hype was premieres at Porte Saint-Martin That same year, he married poet almost unprecedented, yet it proved Theatre Rosemonde Gérard, with whom he to be a disappointment among would have two children. audiences. Scholars today consider 1900 The Eaglet premieres at it to be Rostand’s masterwork. Sarah-Bernhardt Theatre Rostand would rise to the heights Chanticleer premieres at of French theater over the next During World War I, Rostand was 1910 Porte Saint-Martin Theatre decade. The Romancers received disappointed that his declining popular accolades (and is the health kept him from fighting 1910 Publishes poetry collection source story for the 1960 musical for his country, and he produced The Canticle of the Wing The Fantasticks), and he wrote two a collection of patriotic poems plays for actress Sarah Bernhardt: in The Flight of the Marseillaise. 1914 Publishes poetry collection The Princess Far-Away and The Rostand died on December 2, 1918, The Flight of the Marseillaise Woman of Samaria. But it was shortly after the war ended. His Cyrano de Bergerac that made final unfinished play, The Last Night 1922 The Last Night of Don Juan premieres posthumously Rostand an overnight sensation of Don Juan, was published and with its opening in December 1897. performed posthumously. 6 \ GUTHRIE THEATER THE DIRECTOR FROM DIRECTOR JOSEPH HAJ: An Earnest Tale for a Cynical Time Artistic Director Joseph Haj is no stranger to directing on our stages — he’s helmed six shows since he joined the Guthrie in 2015, including last summer’s acclaimed West Side Story.