The Cast of Cyrano De Bergerac
Photo by Hyla Frank ‘10

By John Hurwitz ‘10
Sports Editor

This year’s fall play, “Cyrano de Bergerac,” which ran Nov. 19-22, was a hit among Windward students, parents and faculty. Director Jordan Fox brought 17th century sword fights and courtship to the Irene Kleinberg Theater in the most entertaining of ways.

From the inebriated opening lines of a drunk townswoman Rose (Hallie Golov ‘11) to the climactic scenes with Cyrano de Bergerac (Daniel Gordon ‘10), the audience was immersed in mid-1600s France.

The play, written by Edmond Rostand, tells the story of Cyrano, a gifted dualist in the French army who also shows a talent for poetry. Despite his confidence on the battlefield, Cyrano expresses self-doubt when it comes to romance — mostly due to self-consciousness about his large nose.

Act One opens with a commotion at a theater in France. Montfleury (Dylan Jones-Tuba ‘11) is embarrassed mid-scene by Cyrano. Later the defensive and insecure Cyrano duels with the hilariously pretentious Vicomte de Valvert (Alex Engel ‘10) in a sword fight that made the audience laugh as hard as Valvert cried when he lost to Cyrano. 

At the end of Act One, the audience first learns of Cyrano’s love for his cousin Roxane (Lena Lobel ‘10). Later, Roxane explains to Cyrano how she is in love with Christian de Neuvillette (Nick Williams ‘10) even though they have never talked. When Christian and Cyrano first meet, they exchange words and Christian mocks the size of Cyrano’s nose several times. However, later in the play, the two become friends and Cyrano agrees to help Christian win the heart of Roxane.

Act Three included one of the funniest moments of the performance. After Christian embarrasses himself in front of Roxane’s house, Cyrano feeds lines to Christian to shout to Roxane, who is standing on her balcony. With Cyrano’s help, Christian convinces Roxane to marry him. However, the celebration is short-lived as the evil Compte De Guiche (Spencer Cole ‘10) sends Cyrano and his company of cadets off to fight a war against Spain.

 

Director Jordan Fox and Dara Weinberg did an outstanding job adapting Rostand’s original work for Windward audiences. The themes of identity and self-confidence were great fits for the high school performers. The costumes, designed by Lyn Hoge, truly placed the actors into the roles they were playing. Tony Potter brought the stage to life with the scenes, lights and sounds of 17th century France. Potter had his stage crew transform the set seamlessly in between acts, despite the use of large two-story constructions used for Roxane’s house among other settings.

The play was received with overwhelmingly positive responses from other Windward students. Aven Helford ’11 thought the scene in front of Roxane’s house was hilarious and was impressed by Williams’ portrayal of Christian. Charlie Heller ’10 was a fan of the nose Gordon wore while in the character of Cyrano. Lindsey Gavens ’10 loved the last scene with Roxane and Cyrano because Gordon and Lobel had great chemistry together.

Cast List
Cyrano de Bergerac……………. Daniel Gordon
Christian de Neuvillette………… Nick Williams
Compte de Guiche……………… Spencer Cole
Montfleury………………………… Dylan Jones-Tuba
Ragueneau………………………… Shelby Quinn
Lise………………………………….. Chloe Kiester
Le Bret……………………………… Nicole Sacharow
Roxane……………………………… Lena Lobel
Vicomte de Valvert…………….. Alex Engel

Directed by: Jordan Fox

Also featuring:
Tess McCarthy, Savannah Holcomb, Eunice Lee, Jon Ho, Kourosh Moshtael, Shayna Leeds, Isaiah Evans, Ella Dwyer, Molly Wurwand, Leah Rabinowitz, Hallie Golov, Ruby Frankel, Jennifer Halberstadter, Dani Rosenbach, Adrian Young, Jenna Gilder, Jenna Wishman, Zoe Nadal, Alix Masters, and Olivia Uhley.
Jacki St. Thomas, Julia Schwartz, Jake Weston, Izzy Michaelson, Jackie Goldman, Alex Hinshaw, Sam Greenberg, Tyler Cass, Quentin Ransohoff, and Laura Pfeffer worked on the set and technical aspects of the show.