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Honor, Innocence, and Humor

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by Danielle Thierry, Burlington Writers Workshop

Review of “Man of La Mancha” at the Flynn on Thursday, March 20.

On March 19, the marquees of Broadway theaters dimmed their lights in honor of Mitch Leigh, the man behind the music of Man of La Mancha, who passed away last Sunday at the age of 86. The next evening, the cast and musicians of the Broadway National Tour of Man of La Mancha showed that Leigh’s music is alive and well in a rousing performance at the Flynn Theater.

Man of La Mancha tells the story of playwright/poet/tax collector Miguel de Cervantes and his faithful attendant Sancho, who get thrown into a dungeon by the Spanish Inquisition for foreclosing on a church. In this dungeon, Cervantes is tried by his fellow prisoners to determine if he will be allowed to keep his belongings, including his precious manuscript of Don Quixote (the tale of the mad knight who goes out on a quest for chivalry and his lady love, Dulcinea). Cervantes’ defense is to engage the prisoners in acting out Don Quixote and the play from there moves back and forth between dungeon and the land of Quixote until prisoners and audience alike are so wrapped up in the story that they can hardly believe it when the Inquisition guards come to take Cervantes away for his real trial. (Because, after all, as every Monty Python fans knows, “Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!”).

In this revival of the classic musical, Jack E. Curenton brings a delightful mix of honor, innocence, and humor to the role of Alonso Quijana-turned-Don Quixote in this play within a play—perfectly exemplified by his naïvely carefree dancing and facial expressions as he stubbornly refuses to believe he is being scammed during the entertaining “Moorish Dance” number. Curenton and Chuck Caruso (as the Governor/Innkeeper) play off each other perfectly during “The Dubbing” in which Caruso’s innkeeper, who Quixote believes is the lord of a castle, begrudgingly dubs Quixote the “knight of the woeful countenance,” a title that simply thrills the naïve Quixote.

Jessica Norland’s Alzdona and Rick Grossman’s Sancho are also strong—Grossman making believable his unwavering loyalty to Quixote just because, as he sings, “I really like him,” and Norland infusing her character with enough subtly and depth to make believable her transformation into believing herself worthy of being Quixote’s Dulcinea.

But some of the greatest standouts of this show come from the supporting cast. Chuck Hodges is tremendous as Padre—as evidenced by both his performance and the audience’s ecstatic reaction to his solos. His “To Each His Dulcinea” and “The Psalm” are vocally astounding. And he, along with Rachel Felstein (as Antonia), Yvonne Strumecki (as the Housekeeper), and Arthur Lazalde (as Dr. Carrasco), perform an “I’m Only Thinking of Him” that is a wonderful display of humor through beautiful harmony.

The Muleteers represent the best of what an ensemble can bring to musical theater. Their haunting rendition of “Little Bird, Little Bird”—one of my favorite numbers of the show—provides the perfect level of eerie foreshadowing of what is to come. And their performance, with choreography by Denis Jones, in the show’s infamous “The Abduction” number is a superb handling of this dark material through interpretive dance that is at once meaningful without being so graphic as to undermine the show’s main theme of positivity.

An audience favorite, Man of La Mancha has all of the elements of a classic musical—an inspiring journey, a message that good will triumph in the end, and a beautifully complicated score that seamlessly blends together humor, tragedy, and hope. Though Broadway and fans everywhere mourned the loss of Mitch Leigh this month, it is clear from this production that Man of La Mancha will continue to bring his music to audiences around the world for years to come.


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