By Michael Todd
Man of La Mancha, a play with in a play, is about a man Cervantes who tells a story about a “mad” knight Don Quixote who set out to find adventures with his squire, Sancho Panza. Man of La Mancha is written by Dale Wasserman lyrics by Joe Darien and music by Mitch Leigh, based off the book Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes.
The set designed by Terry McGovern was breathtaking, though a little too clean. I wanted it scruffier and more like a dungeon. But there wasn’t a part of the set that didn’t match. The drawbridge stairs to get into and out of the dungeon was pure genius.
The director, Carol LaForge and assistant director Terry McGovern, did an amazing job—though there were moments of different actors upstaging one another. But overall, each scene was blocked well and I stayed focused on the important parts of the play and keep the distractions at bay.
Choreographers Pamela Giles and Sarah Wilson chose playful simple dances and this worked well, but I would have liked to see a little more movement.
Costumes, hair and make-up by JoAnn Gebs, Katie Fowler, were very true to the time period. Vocal Direction by Cassidy Ellenberger was clear and excellent—her singers sounded marvelous. All the actors not only sounded great, they remained in character. The orchestra was played beautifully directed by Marilyn Syra. However, I wish they’d been a little louder but that could be the acoustics of the auditorium and where I was sitting.
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Don Quixote Cervantes played by Rand Johnson gave a breathtaking performance. Just as the song says, “To Reach the unreachable, the unreachable, the unreachable star and I’ll always dream the impossible, the impossible dream yes, and I’ll reach the unreachable star.” Johnson truly had star quality in this production.
Sancho Panza played by Randy Turnbull, had a great character and lightened up the stage when he was onstage. Aldonza/Dulcinea played by Kathryn Hawley was a powerhouse on stage, I enjoyed seeing her character evolve from the kitchen serving girl born in the dirt and cater to scum to the Lady Dulcinea, helping a madman see the effect he had on the world and your character. You beautifully expressed each emotion from anger and hatred to curiosity and then to love and desire. Other notable players were Nick Ellsworth who played the Governor/Innkeeper. I enjoyed how contrasting his two characters were. Anselmo played by Eli Unruh has the beautiful solo in Little Bird. Tony Ellenberger as Pedro—he plays a mean and nasty character very well. An honorable mention to Padre played by Colton Fowler—he had me fooled into thinking he was an actual clergy man. Truly, if it wasn’t for everyone cast in this show, it would have fallen flat, for each actor and actress on the stage made the production shine.
I was very touched by Man of La Mancha and highly recommend this show.
The production runs nightly June 15th to June 25th, except Sunday, at Tooele High School Auditorium. The show starts at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $10 for adults (12+), $7 for senior (65+). Make sure you grab your snacks and bathroom breaks before the show for there is no intermission, the show is about 2 hours running time
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