'Cyrano' at APT filled with the pathos and joy of the man from Bergerac

By Dave Begel, Milwaukee Theater Reviews & News

July 14, 2017

The two parallels between a pair of men of nobility, passion and courage are too profound and clear to ignore.

Cyrano and Quixote.

Cyrano came from Bergerac,, a small French town and Don Quixote came from La Mancha, a town located on a plateau in central Spain.

The two men, of course, are the heroes in two plays. “The Man of La Mancha” a musical based on the famous novel by Miguel de Cervantes.

Cyrano is the hero of the play, “Cyrano de Bergerac,” first performed in 1897 and now splendidly onstage in a a new adaptation by James DeVita at American Players Theatre in Spring Green.

For Quixote it was an impossible dream and an impossible love that draped his shoulders and his lance. For Cyrano, it is an impossible love that fuels his foil and his heart.

Quixote was strained by the devils in his mind, the imagined warriors he confronted. Cyrano’s curse is his nose and he assuages his guilt over his deformity with the mentality and activity of a fierce warrior.

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