Kimberly Scott Chats New ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’ Adaptation at Pasadena Playhouse

Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac is a play that may not ring a bell at first, but it is a quintessential story that captures the essence of wistful love and unrequited affection in the context of a love triangle that is both endearingly heartbreaking and comedic.

The narrative is set in 1640 and is based on the real Cyrano de Bergerac, a French writer and apparent sword-fighting duelist. Nevertheless, despite having both an artsy sensitive side and a flair for the macho, it is not enough for Cyrano (in Rostand’s account) to win over the females he desires, including the beautiful and intelligent Roxane who instead has eyes for a third party: Christian de Neuvillette.

Cyrano’s side profile abruptly reveals the reason for his failure with the opposite sex: his prodigious proboscis, which means giant nose for those keeping track. Due to this phenomenal physical feature, Cyrano feels invisible (probably because his nose is eclipsing his face).

Stony-hearted jokes aside, the play elicits well-timed laughter while also tugging at heartstrings, so much so that audiences soon root for Cyrano, just as they did for Steve Martin’s C.D. Bales to successfully court Daryl Hannah’s Roxanne in the eponymous 1987 film.

The Tony Award-winning Pasadena Playhouse will soon present Cyrano de Bergerac (September 4^th through the 29^th) in a new rendition adapted by Martin Crimp, directed by Mike Donahue, and starring Chukwudi Iwuji as Cyrano, Rosa Salazar as Roxane, Will Hochman as Christian, and Kimberly Scott as the maternal Madame Leila Ragueneau.

Miss Scott — a Kingsville, Texas native but an Angeleno for the past 34 years — is highly recognizable for anyone who has been tuned into media. For example, you might remember her from the 90s Batman movies, or Respect in 2021, just to name a few flicks from her long résumé. The established actor, who was recently interviewed by LAexcites, exudes optimism and a gratitude for her participation in the play which she discussed in detail.

You have an amazing filmography, with tons of TV and film roles officially dating back to 1989. From your perspective, what’s the biggest difference between performing on stage and being in front of a camera?

Scott: For me, it keeps things exciting and on my toes. Storytelling is the main point for me; there’s ways we deliver the story, which will change and vary. People will always invent new ways of telling stories, or discard previous ways, but at the end of the day, we’re all around the campfire telling stories.

[For instance], in the days of digital photography and camera work, the camera was less intrusive and now with so much performance capture, it’s more intrusive and in other ways it’s less so. I’ve yet to do performance captures but it’s about the difference in working in different mediums and how each medium, depending on the kind of work you’re doing, affects you, the process, and how you might prepare differently for it.

Cyrano is an old story, but people will recognize it as something you can relate to, because love is certainly complicated [laughs].

Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac is known for being the ultimate love triangle story. A good number of films are based on the play, namely Roxanne in 1987. Do you have a favorite film, show, or work of art that depicts a love triangle, unrequited love, or an underdog love narrative?

Scott: There are so many, and I gravitate to those stories because I like to think there’s enough love for everyone in the world; I’m convinced of that. But I also think with some of the greatest love triangles, the third is not a person, but an idea. Then again, you’re talking to someone who is single [laughs]. And sometimes the third [person] is really career, money, or family.

Do you believe in fate?

Scott: Yes, but I also believe you make your fate; I’m Buddhist [laughs]. I believe in karma as the response to what happens to you; we create our fate and karma which I feel lightens the way we look at it as it’s not abstract or onerous. It puts you in control, and in control of your response. Sometimes the worst thing you perceive happening can sometimes be the most beautiful gift, but you got to be in a certain place in your mind to see and recognize that gift.

As far as you’re aware, how does this version, “freely adapted” by Martin Crimp in 2019 and directed by Mike Donahue, compare to how Cyrano de Bergerac is conventionally performed?

Scott: Mike is such a great director, and he’s given us such wonderful space to find our own way in this adaptation. There’s so many adaptations and translations of this play. I believe with any play, or a classic play, you approach it like a new work so you always discover something you share with the audience, which can be revelatory.

I don’t think anyone can walk into a play and know what they’re going to get; this particular adaptation is so of the moment and our Cyrano, Chukwudi [Iwuji], is on point with the language — it’s really beautiful and inspiring.

Given that this rendition of the play is also performed in verse, what has rehearsal been like in getting used to essentially speaking in rhyme? And, as opposed to the ten syllables per line in iambic pentameter, like when performing Shakespeare, there are 12 here, making it a unique structure. How do you get yourself in the correct headspace?

Scott: I think you feel it out and this is also a great group of actors — and it’s not their first rodeo when it comes to verse and language. We find it together, and we lean on training and our relationship to language in the present day. I feel like we’re at this moment right now in society, where because of language in music and popular culture, we have a different possibility and a different relationship in relating to it; it’s not foreign, it’s not a chore. It’s something that’s familiar and we can lift it up.

This is also a play that has Britishisms in it, which we explore, tweak, and make understood for our audience.

Tell us about your character Madame Ragueneau and how you’ve become acquainted with knowing how to play her?

Scott: I’m leading with love [laughs]. I’m playing someone whose job is to love everyone. I kind of always put that in everything too; that’s where I live in as my natural fallback position — taking care of people around me [laughs]. She and I have a lot in common; she loves language and I love language. It’s fun to go there.

I often find new things the day before closing or on closing night, and I’m like, ‘That’s what it is’ [laughs]. If I think of the whole thing as a journey of discovery, it makes it lighter. I approach every performance with a deep breath.

In addition, this is the first time this audience is seeing it. Even if someone is coming back to see the show again, you’re in a different place, they’re in a different place; it’s new every time. Sometimes a laugh line gets a laugh and other times it might not, not because it’s unfunny but because the audience is reacting differently or laughing inside. There’s power in storytelling when you’re around the campfire and telling that story — whether it’s about love, loss, or grief.

Lastly, why do you think this play — and the tale it tells — continues to resonate as much as it does and what do you want Pasadena Playhouse audiences to come away with after seeing it?

Scott: Because love is complicated, Imaan [laughs]. People love to see a story about love being complicated as there is some relief in that.

There’s also feeling like you’re an ‘other.’ [Regarding] Cyrano’s nose, we had a conversation in rehearsal and realized that everyone has a nose (i.e., insecurity), and each person if you ask them will tell you what their nose is. Everyone has that thing — whether it’s physical or not — and we find our way through the world in spite of or because of it. And sometimes we make very different choices than we’d think we’d make when we get to a certain stage in our lives.

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Cover image caption: The full cast in Pasadena Playhouse’s production of Cyrano de Bergerac, which will run from September 4th through September 29th. Image is courtesy of Pasadena Playhouse

For more information about Cyrano de Bergerac at the Pasadena Playhouse, and to purchase tickets, please visit pasadenaplayhouse.org.