Even before Edmund Rostand wrote the fanciful 1897 play “Cyrano de Bergerac” about a 17th-century cavalier who was a skilled swordsman and poet, the title character did indeed exist. The real Cyrano (1619-55) also had a large nose. And it was in this latter perspective that the author created an imaginative plot about an unrequited lover who, because of his detracting appearance, uses a handsome soldier to communicate his love for Roxane.
In addition to two French movies by the same name, a 1950 Hollywood version of “Cyrano” starred Jose Ferrer, who won an Academy Award for his performance. In a staged production by the Little Victory Players at the Western Hotel, Ernest Schenk not only directs a delightful show but also stars as the title character.
Besides an authentic period costume of peaked hat, cloak and boots, Schenk caps his face with a very prominent proboscis. He also carries himself with the authority and swagger of a dashing warrior. To highlight the character’s deftness with the sword, in the opening act Schenk engages soldier De Valvert (Rick Mertens) in a display of fencing – not quite Errol Flynnesque, but adequate enough considering the limited space.
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Call me a hopeless romantic, but I get a warm fuzzy feeling every time I read the "Missed Connections" section of Craigslist.com. Part-personal ad and part-confessional, "Missed Connections" is an anonymous message board where anyone can leave a declaration of love/lust for a person who they might have only seen walking down the street or exchanged a few kind words with at a video store.
As entertaining as it is to scour each message for a hint of yourself ("brown hair, blue jacket!?"), "Missed Connections'" value lies more in its insistance that love at first sight does still exist. Once the
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LeMonnier appeared at the Pekin Public Library and several area schools last week as part of the Rock Island Trail Storytelling Project.
The project, in its eighth year, was sponsored by public libraries in Toulon, Princeville, Peoria, Peoria Heights, Bartonville and Pekin.
LeMonnier's "Tales of the Rails" presentation included various legends and ghost
David Mamet’s latest play is another courtroom drama – except that it’s like no other. This is the most surreal trial since the one in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and you follow it with bizarrely opposing reactions. On the one hand, you can just laugh – often uproariously – at the escalating madness here. The judge first distracted by his hay fever and then demented by his hay fever tablets; the Jewish defendant at loggerheads with his Christian attorney; the prosecutor beset by his hysterical boyfriend. Mamet pillories every kind of political correctness. And what the hell is
Marc Lumer Design is pleased to announce the world premiere of the LOVEGIRL(TM) Apparel and Accessories line at the MAGIC show in Las Vegas, August 29 through September 1, 2005, showing in the Junior Accessories section Booth JA 42813.
This unique new line is based on the comic book character -- LOVEGIRL(TM), created by Marc Lumer, renowned animation artist, comic book artist and designer.
Oriented toward young ladies in the 16- to 25-year-old teen, juniors and young adult markets, LOVEGIRL(TM) has the super power to mend broken hearts -- except her own.
LOVEGIRL(TM) is a campy tale of a girl
By discovering such important truths, Diana Gabaldon and Susan Elizabeth Phillips have taken romance novels to the heights of the hardcover best-seller lists, though their styles are very different.
Gabaldon is the J.K. Rowling of romance publishing. Her latest novel, "A Breath of Snow and Ashes," was burning up the presale charts before its late September release. There were spoilers on Web sites. There were dress-up release parties, as fans celebrated the next 1,000 pages in the saga of Claire Beauchamp, a World War II nurse who gets unstuck in the 18th Century.
This is the sixth book and the Outlander series