The last show of the Ladysmith Little Theatre’s season is by far its most epic.
Starting Thursday, April 24, Ladysmith Little Theatre is presenting Man of La Mancha, the musical story of knight-errant Don Quixote, his servant Sancho, and the lady of his dreams, Dulcinea — who is actually a prostitute named Aldonza. In this play within a play set in a Spanish prison during the inquisition, Miguel de Cervantes, a poet, playwright and tax collector is imprisoned. To survive an attack by other inmates, Cervantes defends himself by engaging the prisoners in his fantasy, even assigning them parts in his story of Don Quixote — a mad dreamer who strives to “dream the impossible dream.”
The musical has been revived on Broadway four times and has been running for the past 50 years.
“Audiences everywhere join Don Quixote in believing that reaching for the unreachable star is not only possible, but necessary if we are to escape from some of the true horrors of life,” the Ladysmith Little Theatre states in a press release. “Translated and performed in many other languages, Man of La Mancha is clearly going to continue to capture the hearts of audiences, both for its beautiful music and for the nobility of its lead character, who ‘is either the wisest madman or the maddest wise man in the world.’”
Director Mort Paul saw a professional touring company perform Man of La Mancha when he was in first-year university, and it had a profound impact on him.
“I thought it was a fabulous show,” he said, noting he had seen many plays and done some acting and directing by that point. “I just fell in love with it. I thought it was very powerful, emotional and theatrical. It spoke to an ideal in all of us. It lit a spark in me, and I said ‘this is something I’d like to pursue even more’ because it was so well-done.”
The following summer, in 1967, Paul was working in a camp, and he directed a short version of Man of La Mancha, with the camp staff as cast members.
Paul taught drama for 31 years, and he did this play with his students in 1978.
When the Ladysmith Little Theatre put on its first musical, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, in 2012, they were talking about what musical to do next, and Paul recalls thinking Man of La Mancha would be a good one to do here because, like Forum, it is a single-set production and it can be done with 20 people.
Paul thinks the play has an enduring appeal.
When Don Quixote is imprisoned and waiting for the Spanish Inquisition, he has to convince the hardened criminals in the prison of the need to hold on to an idealist dream, “to make life worth living,” he explains.
“He triumphs, and they all end up becoming part of that impossible dream,” he said. “So it’s very affirming. It’s wonderfully entertaining. There’s so much fun that goes into it. There’s all this drama, comedy and great music.”
Bonnie Stebbings is the music director for this production, and Ann McInulty-Gogo has taken on the choreography. Jolyon Brown has created the stunning set, while Ellen Paul has worked on the elaborate costumes.
Ladysmith Little Theatre’s production features many familiar faces, including Bill Johnston (Don Quixote), Charles Harman (Sancho), Torry Clark (The Governor), Alan Watt (The Duke), and Shellie Fischer-Trimble (The Barber). Newcomer Elizabeth Herman is playing Aldonza.
The cast has been working on the production since the second week of January, and Paul says that as an ensemble production where each cast member is very busy, it’s really brought everyone together.
“It’s been really good,” he said. “It’s a really good cast. I’ve worked with a number of them before, but some are new to me and new to the theatre.”
Man of La Mancha runs April 24 to May 19. Click here for more information or call the box office at 250-924-0658.
