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Review Roundup: CYRANO DE BERGERAC Opens on Broadway - All the Reviews!

Marilyn Stasio, Variety: Credit helmer Jamie Lloyd with an original concept for staging Rostand's 19th-century romantic drama. Ditching the affected manners, elaborate court dress, and elegant verse readings associated with classic presentations of this French masterpiece, the Brit director portrays Cyrano as a swashbuckling military leader with the same lusty appetites as his soldiers -- who happen to enjoy a good poetry contest as much as a tavern brawl. But a lack of restraint spoils the fun, making it all seem too big (Cyrano's honker), too much (stomping on tables), and over the top (Douglas Hodge's star turn).

Linda Winer, Newsday: Douglas Hodge is a kind and rather rough-hewn Cyrano. Alas, in most other ways, this is a busy, generic production...Page goes so far beyond the cardboard outlines of this villain that we wish the play were about Cyrano and him. The translation by Ranjit Bolt is unpleasantly fixed on exclamations of excrement. For a play about loving words and a hero for whom bad poetry is a fighting offense, this just feels wrong.

Robert Feldberg, NorthJersey.com: Taken on its own, "Cyrano de Bergerac" is an extremely entertaining play, and this production allows the audience to enjoy it. If not great or memorable, it's good, and very solid.

Scott Brown, NY Magazine: Hodge is an enormous talent, and he does excellent work, but it does sometimes look like work.

Jeremy Gerard, Bloomberg News: With his blank expression framed by a stringy wig and an unflattering black ensemble that makes him appear slightly paunchy and derelict, Douglas Hodge brings to Broadway an unprecedented interpretation of the courtly Cyrano de Bergerac as frat boy, in a production that could be an episode of TV’s “Arrested Development.”

Elisabeth Vincentelli, NY Post: Indeed, while Jamie Lloyd’s production excels at the comedy, it misses the target when it comes to the play’s somber side. Lackluster supporting turns further undermine the show.

Tanner Stransky, Entertainment Weekly: Cyrano de Bergerac will always be Cyrano — that is to say, you can't expect new revelations from Edmond Rostand's often exhausting, bloated 1897 play itself. In the Roundabout Theatre Company's new Broadway production, it's still the same sing-songy piece about a tragic, weird love story set in an opulent, war-torn 17th-century France.

Erik Haagensen, Backstage: I suppose it’s possible that “Cyrano” traditionalists will not be as taken with Lloyd’s interpretation as I was. Nevertheless, I would urge everyone to check out Roundabout Theatre Company’s thoughtful, committed production.

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