Man of La Mancha

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Man of La Mancha is a 1965 Broadway musical in one act which tells the story of the classic novel Don Quixote as a play within a play, performed by Miguel de Cervantes and his fellow prisoners as he awaits a hearing with the Spanish Inquisition. It is performed on a single set, made to vaguely suggest a dungeon. All changes in location are suggested by alterations in the lighting and by the creative use of props supposedly lying around the floor of the dungeon; there are no detailed stage sets. This was done to encourage the participation of the audience's imagination in the enjoyment of the show. (More recent productions, however, have ill-advisedly added more scenery.)

The book was by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion, and music by Mitch Leigh: one song, "The Quest (The Impossible Dream)", was particularly popular. It started its life as a teleplay written by Dale Wasserman for CBS's Dupont Show of the Month program. This original staging starred Lee J. Cobb, probably best known for his portrayal of Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. The Dupont Corporation disliked the title Man of La Mancha because its viewing audience would not know what La Mancha actually is, either on a geographical or symbolic nature, so a new title, I, Don Quixote, was chosen. The original lyricist of the musical was world-renowned poet W. H. Auden, but his lyrics were discarded, some of them overtly satiric and biting, attacking the borgeouis audience at times.

An interesting side note: Mitch Leigh did not play any instrument while writing the score to Man of La Mancha. He submitted songs for the production on cassette tapes, already fully orchestrated and performed by professional musicians (it is a custom on Broadway for professional orchestrators other than the composer to arrange instrumental parts for musicals. Mitch Leigh's work, which won him the Tony Award for Best Original Score, was therefore notable because the company that Leigh founded, Music Makers, Inc., orchestrated the work under his very direct supervision). Leigh scored the piece for a flute (which alternates on [[piccolo), an oboe, a clarinet, a bassoon (which alternates as the second clarinet), 2 B-flat trumpets, 2 horns, two trombones (one tenor and one bass with an F-attachment), one timpanist (playing either two or three timpani), two percussionists playing 14 instruments, 2 Spanish guitars and one string bass. In addition, in two scenes on-stage guitars accompany singers. Leigh's ensemble, as opposed to the traditional Broadway orchestra, had only one bowed string instrument and was virtually a wind band with guitars.

The musical first opened at the Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut in 1964. Rex Harrison was to be the original star of this production, but soon lost interest when he discovered the songs must actually be sung.

Richard Kiley won a Tony Award for his performance as Cervantes/Quixote on Broadway, but the role went to Peter O'Toole in the less-successful 1972 film. O'Toole, however, did not really sing his own songs; they were dubbed by tenor Simon Gilbert. All other actors in the film, however, from non-singers such as Sophia Loren to Broadway musical stars such as Julie Gregg, did do their own singing. The only member of the original cast to reprise his role in the film was Gino Conforti, repeating his hilarious turn as the amazed barber, whose shaving basin is mistaken by Don Quixote for the Golden Helmet of Mambrino. Although the bulk of the film was made on two enormous sound stages, the use of actual scenery was much more explicit - Don Quixote is shown fighting a real windmill, while onstage this had been merely suggested by having Quixote run offstage to agitated music, and then crawl back onstage a few seconds later, with his lance broken and his sword twisted.

The play has been run on Broadway five times:

1965 - 1971 original production, opened November 22, 1965 with Richard Kiley as Quixote and ran for 2,328 performances . John Cullum and José Ferrer also played the role during this run.
1972 - revival, Richard Kiley as Quixote.
1977 - revival, Richard Kiley as Quixote.
1992 - revival, Raúl Juliá as Quixote, Sheena Easton as Dulcinea.
2002 - revival, Brian Stokes Mitchell as Quixote, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Dulcinea, Ernie Sabella as Sancho Panza.

A French adaptation, which feautured the Belgian singer-songwriter Jacques Brel in the lead rôle, was recorded and issued in 1968 as the album L'Homme de la Mancha.

Another French version was produced in Liège in 1998 and 1999 with José van Dam in the lead role.

Tenor Plácido Domingo has also played Quixote on a stage set and made a recording together with Julia Migenes as Dulcinea and Mandy Patinkin as Sancho.

Singer Jack Jones has played Quixote in 2000. Jones was responsible for numerous chart-topping singles including "The Impossible Dream (The Quest)".

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