Man of La Mancha
By Keith Boykin, in theater
Thursday, August 7 2003, 9:36AM
For as long as I can remember, I've always loved the song "The Impossible Dream." Last night I finally saw it performed live in the Broadway hit Man of La Mancha. With just a few weeks left before the show closes, it's well worth getting a ticket to see this production
Man of La Mancha tells the story of Cervantes, the legendary Spanish author, and of the most famous character he created. Imprisoned during the Spanish Inquisition, Cervantes is forced to plead his case to his fellow prisoners and regales them with the story of Don Quixote (Brian Stokes Mitchell).
We all know Don Quixote. Even if we've never seen the play or read the book, we can visualize the feckless old man on a horse tilting at windmills with his sidekick Sancho Panza (Ernie Sabella).
Guided by the quest to do right, Quixote seeks the purity of knighthood as he attempts to slay his enemies, serve his lady Aldonza (Marin Mazzie), and uphold justice and righteousness. Quixote even attends to the wounds of the vanquished. In the process, this aging do-gooder often causes more trouble than he prevents.
But Man of La Mancha is a story of optimism, not cynicism. Even faced with unthinkable consequences, Quixote and Cervantes, ever the idealists, labor on toward the impossible dream.
Written in the 1960s, the show first opened at the ANTA Washington Square Theatre in November 1965. "The themes of the play are as sorely needed now as then," writes director Jonathan Kent. "It deals unabashedly with qualities we too easily underestimate--honor, nobility of spirit, chivalry, grace and idealism--but which, buried within us, we can recognize as the best part of ourselves."
I have always loved Don Quixote's vision of knighthood. As a member of a senior society in college that based itself on the legend of King Arthur, I once wrote down the words to the song "Impossible Dream" and committed them to memory as a motto for my own life. "To dream the impossible dream...to fight the unbeatable foe...to right the unrightable wrong."
It's a powerful song, and the audience appropriately stops the show in midpoint for prolonged applause when Brian Stokes Mitchell belts out the last line: "to reach the unreachable stars!" His version is more talky than musical, but he clearly proves he has the power to sing when he lets loose.
The climax of the song would be a perfect place to break for a second act, but the show goes on for two hours without an intermission.
Fortunately, Brian Stokes Mitchell is superb in his performance. Mitchell first performed a small part in Man of La Mancha as a teenager in a dinner theatre in San Diego, and at that point he dreamed of playing the lead role one day on stage. I first saw Mitchell in August Wilson's play King Hedley II. I hated the play but fell in love with Mitchell. Blessed with good looks, acting ability and a powerful voice, he plans to complete his first solo album this year.
Marin Mazzie performs with versatility as the cynical whore Aldonza turned inspired idealist Dulcinea, who Quixote loves "pure and chaste from afar." Most of the other characters are more funny than dramatic. As comic relief, Ernie Sabella as Sancho, Mark Jacoby as Padre, Don Mayo as the innkeeper and Jamie Torcellini as the barber all put in spirited performances.
The multiracial cast moves seamlessly through the rotating circular set on stage. Without stopping to change from scene to scene, the mechanics of the set allow the show to flow effortlessly as though each scene takes place in an entirely different venue.
Led by Brian Stokes Mitchell, the featured cast and the ensemble keep you in your seat and entertained for the whole two-hour show.
Hurry to see this show. Man of La Mancha is now playing at the Al Hirschfeld Theater, 302 W. 45th Street in New York. The show closes August 31.
