Kline, Garner, Sunjata Set for Bway 'Cyrano;' Opens 11/1

It was announced today that Academy Award and Tony Award winner Kevin Kline and Golden Globe winner Jennifer Garner will star in a new production of Cyrano de Bergerac, Edmond Rostand's 1897 romantic classic, with a translation and adaptation by Anthony Burgess (A Clockwork Orange). Tony Award nominee Daniel Sunjata will also star.  Directed by 5-time Tony Award Nominee, David Leveaux, the production will play a strictly limited 10-week engagement at the Richard Rodgers Theater, 226 W. 46th Street.  Previews begin on Friday, October 12, 2007 and opening night is set for Thursday, November 1, 2007.

"Based on a true story, Cyrano de Bergerac is a classic tale of romance and  tragedy.  The soulful poet/philosopher and brilliant swordsman Cyrano (Kline), a cadet in the French Army, falls for the beautiful, strong-willed Roxane (Garner), but is too ashamed of his large nose to tell her.  Instead,  when he learns that she loves the handsome Christian de Neuvillette (Sunjata), his dim-witted comrade, he pens poetry and love letters to Roxane on Christian's behalf.  After many years, the truth is revealed.  Will love or beauty conquer all?," state press notes.

Multi-award winning stage and screen actor Kevin Kline returns to the Broadway stage after starring in multiple productions for The Public Theater (King Lear, Mother Courage, The Seagull, Richard III, Much Ado…, Hamlet),  Lincoln Center Theater and Circle in the Square Theater (Arms and the Man, Loose Ends). He earned the 1978 and 1981 Tony Awards and Drama Desk Awards for his performances in On the Twentieth Century and

The Pirates of Penzance (LTC) and won the 2004 Drama Desk Award and a Tony Nomination for Henry IV (LTC).  This is his first appearance in a commercial Broadway production in 28 years, his last being On the Twentieth Century. He has also starred in a range of films including A Fish Called Wanda, for which he won the Academy Award, DeLovely, In & Out, The Ice Storm, The Pirates of Penzance, Dave and Sophie's Choice, his film debut.

Jennifer Garner won the Golden Globe Award during her first of five seasons  as Sidney Bristow on TV's "Alias," and earned four Emmy Award Nominations for that same role.  She began her career in the theater in New York City and then earned roles in television ("Felicity") and film (Dude, Where's My Car?) after moving to Los Angeles.  She has also appeared in such films as Daredevil, Catch Me If You Can, 13 Going On 30, Catch & Release and the upcoming The Kingdom.

Named one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People, Daniel Sunjata last appeared on Broadway in the Richard Greenberg's Tony Award-winning play Take Me Out.  His performance earned him the 2003 Theatre World Award as well as Tony Award and Drama Desk Award nominations for Best Featured Actor.  Currently starring on television in the new ESPN mini-series "The Bronx is Burning" and FX's "Rescue Me," Sunjata has notably appeared on "Sex and The City" and in the blockbuster hit film The Devil Wears Prada.

A production of Cyrano de Bergerac has not been mounted on Broadway since 1984.  The original production opened in 1897 starring Benoît-Constant Coquelin, who performed the role over 400 times at the Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin in Paris.  A translated production opened at The Garden Theatre in New York in 1899.   The longest-running Broadway production starred Walter Hampden in 1923.  José Ferrer won a Tony Award for his performance in the role in a 1946 Broadway staging, the highlight of which was a special performance in which Ferrer played the title role for the first four acts and Hampden assumed it for the fifth.   Cyrano de Bergerac has been the subject of many film adaptations including a silent film starring the original Cyrano, Benoît-Constant Coquelin.  The most famous versions are the 1950 film starring Ferrer (for which he won the  Academy Award) and the 1990 French-language version starring Gerard Depardieu.  In 1987, Steve Martin and Darryl Hannah starred in a comedic re-interpretation called Roxanne.

Tickets go on sale via an exclusive pre-sale to American Express cardholders on August 22, 2007 and to the general public on September 8, 2007 at www.Ticketmaster.com.

Photo of Kevin Kline by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.

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