Calvin Berger

With its themes of unrequited love, physical insecurity and note-passing, it's a wonder Cyrano de Bergerac wasn't originally set in high school. Now this "error" has been gloriously corrected in Calvin Berger, a hip and hilarious musical adaptation of the French classic from lyricist-composer Barry Wyner. Contemporary high school senior Calvin (Cyrano) is smitten with the beautiful Rosanna (Roxanne), but his insecurity about the size of his sniffer prevents any open declarations of love. Meanwhile Rosanna is attracted to Matt who, while interested, is painfully shy. Hijinks commence when Calvin offers to be Matt's "speech writer," as a means of getting closer to Rosanna even as he ignores signals from another interested girl (who is also his best friend). Deception and desire mix in this fresh, funny and smart musical at New Century Theatre.