Theater

For you lovers of Classic Theater, here's something you'll really like.  This is a brief film of part of the famous play, Cyrano DeBergerac by Edmond Rostand.  Playing Cyrano is Coquelin Aine, a famous French actor from the turn of the century who originated the role of Cyrano (the play, dedicated to Coquelin, was first presented in 1898).  The intro on the clip explains the background of the film. The acting style may seem highly mannered to today's audiences, but was considered the pinnacle of the art in its day.

This play has special resonance for me.  Until my thirteenth birthday, my ambition in life was to be a musician.  It was then, in 1973, I saw my first production of Cyrano DeBergerac (a PBS production, starring Peter Donat).  That viewing, which happened quite by accident, changed my life - from that moment on, theater was my lifelong ambition.  I vowed to one day play Cyrano, and I got that chance, in my own theater, in 1998 (one hundred years after the play was first performed, and twenty-five years after I first saw it).  Some 125 productions later, it's still my favorite play and role.  Enjoy!