Western Reserve Playhouse director, actors adapt famed 'Cyrano' for Bath theater

Everyone knows that the French character Cyrano de Bergerac has a very large nose, right?

That conjures images of a big-nosed Steve Martin as Cyrano, courting the lady he loves on behalf of another man in the 1987 romantic comedy "Roxanne."

What many people may not know is that the original, five-act play by Edmond Rostand, written in 1897, runs about five hours, said local director August Scarpelli.

He's the director of a shortened version of "Cyrano de Bergerac" that's continuing through Feb. 18 at Western Reserve Playhouse in Bath Township. Scarpelli and his cast created the adaptation of the rarely produced play just for the local theater, in order to adapt to modern theatergoers' attention spans.

"It's not something that ever gets produced" in its original English translation, Scarpelli said.

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Scarpelli, a theater graduate from Hiram College, said he's always been attracted to the older classics, especially plays in verse. "Cyrano" has been on his bucket list of plays to direct at WRP for years.

"The character of Cyrano was quite popular. As far as those kind of characters in the Western canon, it reminds me of guys like Don Quixote," said Scarpelli, 28.

He's directed a French classic before — Moliere's 1664 comedy "Tartuffe" — at Western Reserve Playhouse in 2019.

More:Strong cast carries witty 'Tartuffe'

Keeping essence of 'Cyrano' intact

The original English translation of "Cyrano" is written in iambic pentameter, in blank verse.

Scarpelli and his cast have gotten the normally five-hour play down to just over two hours. It's been a group effort to distill the story and combine several characters while at the same time keeping the essence of the original tale and its emotional arc intact.

In this story, Cyrano de Bergerac, a nobleman who's a cadet in the French Army, is a gifted duelist, poet and musical artist. Yet he has an obnoxiously large nose, which causes him to doubt himself. He's afraid that his ugliness means the woman he loves, the beautiful and intellectual Roxane, could never love him back.

The show, whose story features a love triangle, stars Chris Bizub as Cyrano, Lauren Koleszar as Roxane and Zach Manthey as Christian.

In trimming the story, Scarpelli and his team still left parts of every scene. It was important for the scale of the story and its characters to still feel large, full of panache and bravado, the director said.

"Sometimes the joy of theater is feeing like you're in a world that's bigger than your own, that is more full, that is more colorful," Scarpelli said.

The classic comedy, WRP's 2023 season opener, is the theater's first big show back from the pandemic.

It features romance as well as sword fighting, brought for the first time to the WRP stage by fight choreographer Jason Leupold. The play, set in 1640, features period costumes by John Catlos. "Cyrano," whose original play had about 100 characters, has about 45 parts played by 16 actors in this local adaptation. Scarpelli said every actor at some point had input into whether the narrative made sense for their character or characters.

"If I were a novelist, they were like the editors," Scarpelli said of the collaborative effort.

Scarpelli, who grew up in Sheffield Lake and most recently lived in Lorain, is now moving to Cuyahoga Falls to be closer to WRP, his home theater where he is education director.

More:‘Hadestown’ star and Twinsburg native Hannah Whitley comes home for Cleveland performance

The rest of WRP's 2023 season will include the musical "The Spitfire Grill" April 14-29, Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery by Ken Ludwig May 26-June 10, Jekyll & Hyde the musical Aug. 11-25, Seussical Oct. 6-21 and Shadowlands by William Nicholson Jan. 26-Feb. 10, 2024.

Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.

Details

Play: "Cyrano de Bergerac"

Where: Western Reserve Playhouse, 3326 Everett Road, Bath

When: Continuing through Feb. 18, 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Feb. 12

Onstage: Chris Bizub, Lauren Koleszar, Zach Manthey, Jim Fippin, Santino Montanez, Sullivan Ratcliff, Amy Ballsinger, Casey McCan, Eric Coulbourne, Keenan Carosielli, Stephen Benjamin, Robert Haag, Shley Snider, Max Winer, Robbie Rush, Jack Stulak

Offstage: Based on the original play by Edmond Rostand; August Scarpelli and team, adaptation; August Scarpelli, director/set designer; Victoria Kirgesner-Hunsicker, assistant director; Tiffany Bird and Tiffany Crabtree, stage managers; John Catlos, costume designer; Sue Snyder, props designer; James Gremba, set build; Daniel Hunsicker, lighting designer; Jason Leupold, fight choreographer

Cost: $25

Information: thewrp.org or 330-620-7314