Toper Payne (left) as Christian, and Dave Toomey (right) as Cyrano both love Roxane, played by Sara Hymes (center).
Dave Toomey as Cyrano. (Photos by Alexandra Stewart)
By SUE SUCHYTA
CYRANO IN THE SHADOWS
Wayne State University’s graduate Hilberry Theatre will welcome in the New Year with “Cyrano,” the story of a lovesick man with low self-esteem who lets his long nose stand in the way of happiness.
BLAIR IS THERE
Blair Anderson, Ph.D, associate professor of theatre and former theatre chair and director of theatres will direct the show, with technical direction by Curtis Green.
NEW TRANSLATOR AT CENTURY MARK
Playwright Frank Langella introduced his English version of the script in 1997, a hundred years after Edmond Rostand penned the original French play “Cyrano de Bergerac” in rhyming couplet.
IN ROTATING REPERTORY
The show opens at 8 p.m. Jan. 13 and will run through March 20 in rotating repertory with Martin McDonagh’s “The Cripple of Inishmaan” and Tennessee William’s “Summer and Smoke.”
LOFTUS GOALS
Greg Loftus, a 1994 Hilberry graduate, is designing the set long-distance from his home in Florida.
“A long-distance guest design is always a challenge, and ‘Cyrano’ makes me aware of how much more I still have to learn,” Loftus said.
SNIFFING FOR CLUES
Loftus, who has taught scenic design at the college level and designed sets for professional theatres, dance companies and television shows said that he wants his set design’s ambiguity to compel audiences to come to their own conclusions about what it means.
TRANSPARENT OR VEILED?
“Langella’s adaptation is less transparent, more ambiguous,” Loftus said. “It is romantic, idealized, lyric and modern… we use realism to lead audiences to an interpretation.”
He added that he hopes audiences will see “deep and human characters in a complex, non-literal world.”
TOOMEY TAKES THE LEAD
The Cyrano cast includes Dave Toomey in the title role, with Topher Payne as Christian and Sara Hymes as Roxane, the woman they adore from afar.
A COMPANY BOW
Others in the cast include Vanessa Sawson as Margeurite, Christopher Call as Ragueneau and Danielle Cochrane as Lise.
Edmund Alyn Jones portrays Le Bret, with Christopher Ellis as De Guiche and Joshua Blake Rippy as Montfleury.
Alec Barbour will play Valvert, with Andrew Papa as Carbon and Brent Griffith as a priest.
DESIGN OF THE TIME
Rudolph C. Schuepbach is the assistant scenic designer, with Leazah Behrens as properties chair and Donna Buckley as costume designer.
Samuel G. Byers is the sound designer, while Brian Scruggs is designing the lighting.
FOLLOW YOUR NOSE
The Hilberry Theatre is located at 4743 Cass at Hancock on the Wayne State campus in Detroit.
For more information, call the box office at (313) 577-2972 or go to www.hilberry.com.
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