Pinoy.Urban.Blog

I grew up thinking that the song “The Impossible Dream” was just a favorite among drunk karaoke enthusiasts and song-fest junkies until I saw “Man of La Mancha” at the Globe OnStage Theatre.

Based on Miguel de Cervantes’s book Don Quixote, “La Mancha” is a play within a play. The Broadway musical by Dale Wasserman with Lyrics by Joe Darion and Music by Mitch Leigh, begins as Cervantes and his assistant are thrown into a dungeon to await for their trial by the Inquisition. There they meet a collection of other prisoners who at the very start have been rapaciously eyeing Cervantes’s belongings. In order to keep his possessions which are no more than theatre costumes and props, he stages a defense in the best way he knows how–a drama. And since there are no actors other than himself to give life to his defense, he enlists the help of the very prosecutors and judges–his co-prisoners themselves–as actors in the drama about the life of the chivalrous Alonso Quijana who believes himself to be the knight Don Quixote.

Through the eyes of Don Quixote, Cervantes rationalizes the madness of having one’s ideals intact amid life’s sufferings and frustrations. “To dream the impossible dream” means no less than seeing the lady instead of the tramp, a golden plate of chivalry instead of a barber’s basin, a castle instead of a roadside inn and its keeper as a king. Yet, whatever madness lies within is the same source of hope when all around one only sees despair; to be true to that madness is to show courage, courtesy and most of all, love.

“La Mancha” brings together some of the country’s best stage thesps: Michael Williams and Audie Gemora alternately play Don Quixote, Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo as Aldonza, Robbie Guevara as the endearing Sancho Panza, and Cocoy Laurel as the friar. Also giving life to key roles are MiguelFaustmann, Joy Virata, and Jeremy Domingo, among others.

“Man of La Mancha,” a joint production by Repertory Philippines and the Manila Symphony Orchestra, which provides live accompaniment to the actors’ powerful renditions, is being staged at Globe’s OnStage Theatre until December 18.

No related posts.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 29th, 2005 at 2:59 pm and is filed under Movies & Theaters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.