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<\/p>\nPor Jean Lowerison<\/p>\n
What is it about \u201cMan of La Mancha\u201d that always brings me to tears, no matter how many times I see it? It\u2019s the reminder of what we do to ourselves and others, and the chance to consider what we might be if we dared give our better nature free rein.<\/p>\n
San Diego Musical Theatre offers a sterling production of the five-time Tony-Award-winning show through Oct. 27 at the Horton Grand Theatre. Scott Thompson directs.<\/p>\n
The setting is Spain during the Inquisition, where the writer Miguel de Cervantes has just been arrested and is tossed into jail to await trial, not for any violent crime but for the temerity of foreclosing on the monastery of La Merced in his other job as tax collector.<\/p>\n
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There, tradition has it, he must first be judged by his fellow prisoners. Cervantes will defend himself by telling the story of elderly idealist Don Quixote, labeled \u201ccrazy\u201d by everyone but his faithful sidekick Sancho (a charmingly funny Jeffrey Landman) for his insistence on dreaming \u201cthe impossible dream.\u201d<\/p>\n
With music by Mitch Leigh, lyrics by Joe Darion and Dale Wasserman\u2019s script (based on Cervantes\u2019 epic novel), this show boasts an outstanding cast headed by Robert J. Townsend as Cervantes\/Quixote, Jeffrey Landman as his sidekick Sancho, and Heidi Meyer as Aldonza, the self-described \u201ckitchen slut reeking of sweat\u201d who finally gets a chance to feel what it\u2019s like to be treated as royalty rather than \u201ca strumpet men use and forget.\u201d<\/p>\n
On a suitably tacky-looking rented set, the Captain of the Inquisition (Brian Doig) occasionally descends the famous, ominous retractable staircase to snatch the next victim, while the remaining detainees listen to Quixote\u2019s story.<\/p>\n
Whether Quixote goes off with corkscrew-shaped sword to fight a \u201cmonster\u201d that turns out to be a windmill, or charges off to the \u201ccastle\u201d he sees in the distance (where he hopes to be dubbed a knight), his trusty squire and friend Sancho humors and protects him.<\/p>\n
When Quixote spots Aldonza (a wonderfully earthy Heidi Meyer), he calls her \u201cmilady\u201d and renames her Dulcinea, which first makes her laugh and later convinces her that the others are right: he really is crazy. But as time goes on, and she sees him fighting for the right and dreaming \u201cthe impossible dream,\u201d she may come around.<\/p>\n
This trio is surrounded by an assortment of others including a kindly priest (Joseph Grienenberger), Quixote\u2019s niece Antonia (Francesca Sola), her fianc\u00e9 Dr. Carrasco (Michael Thomas-Visgar), a barber (Hanz Enyeart) and several muleteers (including Max Cadillac and Enyeart, especially amusing as two Mule Dancers wearing gigantic, fake mule heads while they dance).<\/p>\n
These characters are wonderfully written and brilliantly performed. Townsend is spectacular as Quixote, with great acting chops and a voice I would gladly listen to all day.<\/p>\n
Landman is adorable as Sancho, who early on tries to explain to Aldonza why he sticks with this crazy guy with his lunatic ideas in four simple words: \u201cI Really Like Him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meyer gives us the most convincing Aldonza I\u2019ve seen, with a voice that can make you believe she\u2019s either a slut or a princess at will.<\/p>\n
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Francesca Sola\u2019s Antonia gets her turn as she, the housekeeper (Bethany Slomka) and Grienenberger as the priest give forth in the amusing \u201cI\u2019m Only Thinking of Him.\u201d<\/p>\n
There isn\u2019t a weak spot in the show, nor in this production. Kudos to director Scott Thompson, who keeps the circus moving, and to Don Le Master, SDMT\u2019s conductor extraordinaire, who leads his capable if invisible 13-member band from their perch above the audience.<\/p>\n
The actors do the rest, enchanting the audience from the first moment. Don\u2019t miss this show.<\/p>\n
\u201cMan of La Mancha\u201d plays through Oct. 27, 2019 at the Horton Grand Theatre, 444 Fourth Ave., Downtown.<\/p>\n Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 2 p.m.<\/p>\n Tickets: 858-560-5740 or sdmt.org<\/a><\/p>\n
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