Newport Group Plans ‘Cyrano’

It took a lot of sniffing out, but the Newport Theatre Arts Center has found and secured the rights to “Cyrano, The Musical,” an adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s classic “Cyrano de Bergerac.” The musical version will open the troupe’s five-play run on Sept. 6.

Theater board president Patti-Gene Sampson said Friday that she spent months searching for the owner to the musical’s rights after Kent Johnson, who will direct it, suggested it for the upcoming season.

Seemingly endless telephone calls ultimately led to Elisabeth Marton, head of a “very small” musical rights agency in New York, who granted the rights. Getting a copy of the full score took more time and effort, but “with all of that out of the way, we were able to cast the show and now we’re into rehearsals,” said Sampson, who will co-produce the musical with Ken Meyers.

“Everybody was excited about this lost musical finally surfacing,” she said. “Friends and directors I know (including Johnson) have the album and they love the musical and wanted to direct it, and many of them had tried to find it, but couldn’t.”

Writer Anthony Burgess adapted the play and wrote the lyrics for the musical, which won Christopher Plummer a Tony award in 1973 for his portrayal of Cyrano, Sampson said. Burgess wrote the book “A Clockwork Orange” and translations for subtitles to the recent “Cyrano” film starring Gerard Depardieu.

Michael J. Lewis, who lives in Los Angeles and has attended rehearsals, wrote the music, she said. It is scheduled to run through Oct. 6.