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Cyrano's Notes
by David Claudon
A website devoted to illustrations and notes on the play,
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Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmund Rostand |
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[ Background ] [ Settings ] [ The People ]
Sean, a high school freshman, summarizes the play: "Cyrano is a play about some ugly dude with a big nose who loves this gorgeous chick, but she loves this buff stud. He dies in the end."
Veteran actor Coquelin
as Cyrano
Painted on the computer
from an engraving
in Kuhns & Church
by David Claudon, 1998
Coquelin, who orginated the title role, described the December 28, 1897, opening night:
The news was somehow spread about the theatre-loving public that something out of the ordinary was in preparation. The papers took up the tale and repeated it until the whole capital was keyed up to concert pitch. The first night was eagerly awaited by the critics, the literary and the artistic worlds. . . .When the curtain rose on the first act there was not a seat vacant in the theatre. The emotion of a great event was floating in the air. Never, never have I lived through such a night. Victor Hugo's greatest triumph, the first night of Hernani, was the only theatrical event that can compare with it, and that was injured by the enmity of a clique who persistently hissed through the performance. There is but one phrase to express the enthusiasm at our first performance--une salle delire alone gives any idea of what took place. As the curtain fell on each succeeding act the entire audience would rise to its feet, shouting and cheering for ten minutes at a time. The coulisse and the dressing-rooms were packed by the critics and the author's friends, beside themselves with delight. I was trembling.
This website was created by David Claudon. Last update, November 29, 2004 .
[ The Iliad ][ Decorating Forties Style ] [ Decorating for a Fifties Christmas ] [ To Kill a Mockingbird ]
[ Who's Who in GLBT History ] [ Miniatures ] [ Paper Dolls ] [ Santa Collection ] [ Clarence ] [ St. Bernardine's Church ]