Dulcinea Captivates Within Stunning "La Mancha"
Charles Newell re-imagined the legendary "Man of La Mancha" and staged his impressive production a couple of years ago at Chicago's Court Theater. New Haven's Long Wharf Theater brings that transformative show, complete with classic Mitch Leigh music/Joe Darion lyrics to Connecticut through Mar. 18th. Doug Peck provides the splendid musical direction while Newell supervises the overall presentation.
During the mid-1960s the playwright Dale Wasserman (who originally wrote this as a TV play) referenced "Don Quixote de La Mancha," by Miguel de Cervantes, and brought his project to the Goodspeed Opera House. The subsequent Broadway production, starring Richard Kiley, became the third longest running musical of the decade. Kiley as Don Quixote will live forever in theatergoers' minds.
The storyline finds Cervantes (Herbert Perry), in great debt, imprisoned during the Spanish Inquisition. Newell situates everyone in the prison and all actors take on multiple roles. Cervantes endures a trial and begs that his ideal vision be recognized. He fights windmills and, by the time this just under two hour adaptation ends, wins over all of his fellow prisoners. As he about to die, the protagonist is heroic.
Much revolves around the whorish character of Escalante/Aldonza/Dulcinea (Hollis Resnik) who, during this sixteenth century piece, is initially wild, audacious, dirty, and foul-mouthed. Everyone else on stage, including Cervantes' delightful servant, Sancho ( the delightful manservant played by Jim Corti), becomes secondary to the characters embodied by Hollis Resnik.
Before I proceed further, it must be stated that designer John Culbert's rendering of the Inquisition Jail is a work of fine art. It is: dark, dungy, forbidding.....and becomes an all-inclusive environment for the show. Sitting high above, one actually feels the humidity and bleak texture within the confining space below. Mark McCullough's variety of lighting effects and sounds provided by Ray Nardelli and Josh Horvath are major positives as are Jacqueline Firkins' "outfits."
Tunes penned for "Man of La Mancha" are recognizable and welcome. They include: "I Really Like Him," "Little Bird, Little Bird" (with harmony), and "Knight of the Woeful Countenance." The musical's classic number is, of course, "The Impossible Dream." Yet "Dulcinea" becomes the central song here.
Quixote, from the outset, calls the woman he adores Dulcinea and all of her efforts to prove that she is a prostitute mean nothing to him. He is certain she is a virgin.....He will do anything for her, for the person he loves.
So, it's a romantic, poetic, sometimes even humorous rendering -- the current "La Mancha."
Perry, with a trained, impressive operatic voice, is strong. He is non-charismatic. The galvanic Resnik carries the production. She nails her characters throughout. The concluding section of the performance allows her to open up emotionally and she is more than equal to that task. During the early going, she is asked, virutally, to spit with grit -- and she obliges.
The Broadway "La Mancha" won five Tony Awards and I saw that memorable Manhattan production. And, I took in a bus and truck touring version of the musical several years ago; not bad at all. Newell's exciting, powerful, commanding realization brings fresh authority to a great play. Within the scope of the prison, a fine cast expands and enthralls.
www.longwharf.org; (203) 787-4282
During the mid-1960s the playwright Dale Wasserman (who originally wrote this as a TV play) referenced "Don Quixote de La Mancha," by Miguel de Cervantes, and brought his project to the Goodspeed Opera House. The subsequent Broadway production, starring Richard Kiley, became the third longest running musical of the decade. Kiley as Don Quixote will live forever in theatergoers' minds.
The storyline finds Cervantes (Herbert Perry), in great debt, imprisoned during the Spanish Inquisition. Newell situates everyone in the prison and all actors take on multiple roles. Cervantes endures a trial and begs that his ideal vision be recognized. He fights windmills and, by the time this just under two hour adaptation ends, wins over all of his fellow prisoners. As he about to die, the protagonist is heroic.
Much revolves around the whorish character of Escalante/Aldonza/Dulcinea (Hollis Resnik) who, during this sixteenth century piece, is initially wild, audacious, dirty, and foul-mouthed. Everyone else on stage, including Cervantes' delightful servant, Sancho ( the delightful manservant played by Jim Corti), becomes secondary to the characters embodied by Hollis Resnik.
Before I proceed further, it must be stated that designer John Culbert's rendering of the Inquisition Jail is a work of fine art. It is: dark, dungy, forbidding.....and becomes an all-inclusive environment for the show. Sitting high above, one actually feels the humidity and bleak texture within the confining space below. Mark McCullough's variety of lighting effects and sounds provided by Ray Nardelli and Josh Horvath are major positives as are Jacqueline Firkins' "outfits."
Tunes penned for "Man of La Mancha" are recognizable and welcome. They include: "I Really Like Him," "Little Bird, Little Bird" (with harmony), and "Knight of the Woeful Countenance." The musical's classic number is, of course, "The Impossible Dream." Yet "Dulcinea" becomes the central song here.
Quixote, from the outset, calls the woman he adores Dulcinea and all of her efforts to prove that she is a prostitute mean nothing to him. He is certain she is a virgin.....He will do anything for her, for the person he loves.
So, it's a romantic, poetic, sometimes even humorous rendering -- the current "La Mancha."
Perry, with a trained, impressive operatic voice, is strong. He is non-charismatic. The galvanic Resnik carries the production. She nails her characters throughout. The concluding section of the performance allows her to open up emotionally and she is more than equal to that task. During the early going, she is asked, virutally, to spit with grit -- and she obliges.
The Broadway "La Mancha" won five Tony Awards and I saw that memorable Manhattan production. And, I took in a bus and truck touring version of the musical several years ago; not bad at all. Newell's exciting, powerful, commanding realization brings fresh authority to a great play. Within the scope of the prison, a fine cast expands and enthralls.
www.longwharf.org; (203) 787-4282
posted by Fred Sokol at 6:20 AM
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