This ‘Cyrano’ Nose the Score : Stage: Newport Theatre Arts Center will resurrect the unusual and mostly forgotten musical version of Edmond Rostand’s classic.

Cyrano de Bergerac’s nose, that great symbol for the perils of superficiality, has had tremendous reach over the years.

Ever since Edmond Rostand’s classic premiered in Paris in 1897, it has had countless reincarnations. There have been numerous dramatic stagings and even a few movies, including Steve Martin’s comic take, “Roxanne,” up through the latest, last year’s version starring Gerard Depardieu as a noble but overbearing egotist of a Cyrano.

Perhaps the oddest approach was introduced on Broadway in 1973. With adaptation and lyrics by novelist Anthony Burgess and score by Michael J. Lewis, “Cyrano” starring Christopher Plummer opened at the Palace Theater to bemused to lukewarm reviews, then slipped into limbo.

Rarely produced in the states, it took none other than the small Newport Theatre Arts Center to resurrect this unusual and mostly forgotten musical. According to theater officials, “Cyrano” (now being called “Cyrano, the Musical”) will receive its West Coast premiere Friday night and continue through Oct. 6.

Why pick such an obscure piece?

The answer starts with Kent Johnson, a veteran of Orange County community theater. It turns out that Johnson, who is directing the Newport production, has been fascinated with the musical for several years.

His interest goes back to the original show, which featured a good friend of his, Leigh Berry, in the role of Roxana, the object of Cyrano’s unrequited love. Johnson said that he and Berry were close in Chicago before “Cyrano, the Musical” premiered, having performed together in several productions, including “Guys and Dolls.”

“Of course, I always thought about the musical because of Leigh’s involvement, but I also had an album of the original show and just really liked it,” Johnson said. “It’s so romantic, one of the few shows left in this cynical world of ours that celebrates heroic virtue.”

After persuading the theater’s board of directors that the project was feasible, the task of securing the rights fell to Patti-Gene Sampson, the board president and show’s co-producer with Ken Meyers. It turned into a mundane odyssey of sorts.

“You cannot believe what we went through to track it down,” Sampson sighed. “I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say it’s a small miracle that we did.”

After numerous phone calls to various parts of the country, Sampson finally contacted a “very small” musical rights agency in New York and got the rights.

“From there, we got the OK from Burgess’ agent and finally tracked down a (full score and book) from (a troupe that was producing) the musical in Germany,” Sampson said. “It was really quite an accomplishment, just getting this off the ground, so we’re pretty excited.”

To some, it might seem like a lot of bother to unearth what, at best, has been judged an uneven musical. In his original review for the New York Times, Clive Barnes praised Burgess, best known for his novel “A Clockwork Orange,” for “an excellent and flamboyant job” with the book and “flashy rather than fluent” lyrics.

But he labeled Lewis’ score derivative of “My Fair Lady” and “Man of La Mancha.” Barnes said it “imitates more than it conquers, reminds more than it enchants.” Critic Walter Kerr, also writing for the New York Times, went further, suggesting it was redundant to laden an essentially lyrical drama with songs. “ ‘Cyrano de Bergerac,’ ” he wrote, “is virtually a musical to begin with” because of its poetic language.

Although he disagrees with the finality of that assessment, Johnson does see some validity in Kerr’s doubts.

“Rostand did write in such a way that the dialogue is almost music in itself, but I think that the music does add to the story,” he said. “In this case, Lewis handled the score very well; each song flows naturally right out of the moment and they move the story line forward.”

Johnson added that he thought the main reason “Cyrano, the Musical” has seldom been produced is not so much because of its quality but the logistics and costs involved. “There’s much sword-fighting and action, and it could get quite expensive, with the lush sets and costumes. I think that’s dissuaded people,” he said.

Even though the Newport staging has minimized costs as much as possible, Sampson said this show will probably be the most expensive to date, exceeding the $12,000 to $15,000 that their productions usually cost.

As for his directorial challenges, Johnson said the largest was wedging the requirements of a huge Broadway production into the tiny Newport stage. To do this, he restructured much of the action and veered away from the notion of a bravado musical.

“We’ve condensed everything; now it’s more of a play with musical accompaniment,” he explained. “Things have been minimized, but there’s still sword-fighting and the like. It’s smaller framed, but I believe it will still be vivid.”

* “Cyrano, the Musical” opens Friday and continues Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. with Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m. through Oct. 6 at 2501 Cliff Drive, Newport Beach. Tickets: $13 ($15 for opening night). Information: (714) 631-0288.