1910. Rostand was a French dramatist whose plays represent the final flowering of the 19th-century romantic tradition. His greatest work, Cyrano de Bergerac was a dazzling popular success and remains a worldwide favorite to this day. One of Rostand's earlier works, The Romancers has been adapted as the highly successful musical comedy The Fantasticks, the longest running musical in theater history. His last play, Chantecler, is a fantasy that casts all the characters as animals.