Garner Has Nose for Broadway

Former Alias star to make New York stage debut in revival of Cyrano opposite Kevin Kline

By Marcus Errico Aug 20, 2007 11:29 PMTags

Do we smell a Tony nomination?

Jennifer Garner continues her emergence from maternity leave, sniffing out a starring role in the Broadway revival of the proboscis-powered romantic classic Cyrano de Bergerac.

She'll play as Roxanne to Kevin Kline's schnoz-enhanced hero in the limited-engagement production, which kicks off Nov. 1 at the Richards Rodgers Theater. The show will run through Dec. 23.

Daniel Sunjata will play Roxanne's other suitor, the handsome if inept Christian.

The new production of Edmond Rostand's 1897 magnum opus features a translation and adaptation by Anthony Burgess (A Clockwork Orange).

This will be Garner's Broadway debut. The 35-year-old former Alias star took nearly a year off from acting following the birth of her and husband Ben Affleck's daughter, Violet, in December 2005.

She most recently appeared onscreen in the January bomb Catch and Release, which was actually shot before Violet's birth. Garner has two other films set to unspool this year.

First up is the terrorism thriller The Kingdom, also starring Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jeremy Piven and Jason Bateman and due out Sept. 28.

Garner also appears in the dramedy Juno with Bateman, Michael Cera, Allison Janney, Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page. The film premieres at next month's Toronto International Film Festival and is set for limited theatrical release in December.

Garner no doubt hopes her premiere performance on the Great White Way is better received than Julia Roberts'. The Pretty Woman took to the boards in Three Days of Rain during her own comeback from baby-tending duties but failed to endear herself to theater critics.

Of course, Kline has made a career of endearing himself to critics. The actor, who has two Tonys to go along with his Oscar, will be Broadway's first Cyrano in more than 20 years.

Derek Jacobi last played the role in a 1984 Royal Shakespeare Company production. José Ferrer, arguably the most famous modern Cyrano, starred in a 1946 revival and won an Oscar for the 1950 film version. And Steve Martin memorably parodied the play in his hit 1987 big-screen comedy Roxanne, with Daryl Hannah.