A new spin on 'Cyrano,' and four other arts events not to miss this weekend

Bradley Greenwald's nose for musical theater

Maybe you've seen "Cyrano de Bergerac" before, or one of the many adaptations of the story about the swashbuckling poet and his enormous nose. But if you haven't seen "C.," which is midway through its premiere run at Theater Latte Da, you're missing the proboscis with the most-est.

Cyrano has a beautiful soul but a face he believes to be ugly. He is skilled at wordplay and swordplay and always ready to use them both, such as when he is taunted about the size of his schnoz. He's been in love with Roxane since childhood, but he dares not hope she can see past his nose. Instead, he agrees to help pretty-boy Christian pursue her.

This musical reinvention is remarkable. Bradley Greenwald, who wrote the book and the lyrics to Robert Elhai's music, performs the title role with sensitivity and skill, not to mention a voice that could knock birds out of their trees. He fuses music and story without visible effort.

"We are on this earth," Greenwald's Cyrano says, "to articulate the ineffable." And boy, does he ever.

Toward the end of the first act, when Roxane has stiff-armed the earnest but inarticulate Christian, Cyrano progresses from stage whispers to spoken dialogue to song — soaring, achingly expressive song. As Cyrano improvises the text that will win Roxane's heart for Christian, we see the personification of selfless love — coupled with the crippling effects of a lousy self-image. "My life is complete," he says at the foot of Roxane's balcony, though his life is, at best, half complete.

It's heartbreaking. Go ahead and cry. Be thankful that, with your normal-sized nose, you won't need a handkerchief the size of a bedsheet. At the Ritz Theater in northeast Minneapolis, with a run that's just been extended through May 1.

Reason to go: Bradley Greenwald.

A giant rabbit says, "Good evening"

Just as Cyrano gives voice to Christian, Elwood P. Dowd gives voice to Harvey, a giant rabbit that most people can't see: "I was walking down along the street and I heard this voice saying, 'Good evening, Mr. Dowd.' I turned around and here was this big six-foot rabbit leaning up against a lamp-post. Well, I thought nothing of that because when you've lived in a town as long as I've lived in this one, you get used to the fact that everybody knows your name." The Mary Chase play that gave Jimmy Stewart one of his most popular movie roles opens at the Guthrie Friday night. It's a sweet and wholesome play, if you don't think too hard about Elwood's untreated alcoholism. As he puts it: "In this world, you must be oh so smart, or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant." That could describe the play, too: "Harvey" isn't the most challenging work of American theater, but it sure is pleasant. At the Guthrie in Minneapolis, through May 15.

Reason to go: Sally Wingert is in it.

Flamenco celebrates a murdered poet

During the Spanish Civil War, soldiers murdered the poet and theater artist Frederico Garcia Lorca and burned his books. This weekend, his works will live again in the premiere of Susana di Palma's new work, "Lorca's Women," performed by Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theatre in Minneapolis. The troupe's mission includes educating patrons in all the elements of flamenco — including spoken word. Di Palma is the founder and guiding creative spirit behind Zorongo Flamenco, and Art Hound Richard Broderick expects the performance will be a vivid exercise of female power. Friday through Sunday at the Cowles Center.

Reason to go: Who needs a reason to see flamenco?

More film than you can possibly watch

It's not too late to dive into the 35th Minneapolis St. Paul Film Festival, an excellent way to consume every bit of your free time through the end of next week. If you start Thursday and limit yourself to just one film per day, here's a sample itinerary for the weekend: "Robert Bly: A Thousand Years of Joy," about the life of the man who is possibly the most influential poet ever to come out of Minnesota; "Voices of Light: The Passion of Joan of Arc," a pairing of the famous 1928 silent film about the French martyr with a live concert by the Oratorio Society of Minnesota; "Minnesota 13: From Grain to Glass," about a celebrated homegrown moonshine from Prohibition days; and "Serial Killer 1," a French police procedural. And that only gets you through the weekend, with another full week to go. Take some time, browse the website, try not to get overwhelmed. Various locations, through April 23.

Reason to go: It's a chance to imagine you live in Cannes.

Not just a violinist, but an exciting violinist

Patricia Kopatchinskaja, an artistic partner of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, told MPR News' Tom Weber last year that she has no idea why she deserves to be considered special — even, in the estimation of some critics, the most exciting violinist in the business. The Moldovan prefers to let her music speak for her, and she'll be doing that this weekend with the SPCO in a program called "Patricia Kopatchinskaja Plays Bach." Never mind that she told Weber, "I think that I don't play very well Bach. ... I don't want to disturb too much Bach's music." It's a safe bet that Bach, and the other three composers on the program, won't be disturbed. Friday morning and evening; Saturday evening, Ordway Concert Hall.

Reason to go: You should hear Kopatchinskaja while you have the chance.