Man of La Mancha

In the volatile days of the Spanish Inquisition, the writer Miguel de Cervantes and his manservant make livings as tax collectors but soon find themselves imprisoned after being accused of crimes against the church. Now facing the wrath of their fellow inmates, Cervantes must persuade the unruly bunch not to burn his prized manuscript -- by performing it for them. With the help of a harlot they begin the tale of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.

Playwright Miguel de Cervantes and his trusty servant have been thrown into prison by the officials of the Spanish Inquisition.  In order to prevent all his belongings (including a precious manuscript) from being destroyed by the other prisoners in their mock trial, Cervantes must think fast.  With his back against the wall, the desperate playwright uses his only weapon; he distracts the prisoners by telling them the story of Don Quixote.

MAN OF LA MANCHA is a remarkable show and one of the great theatre successes of our time. This is a play-within-a-play, based on Cervantes’ “Don Quixote.” We have a poignant story of a dying old man whose impossible dream takes over his mind. It’s All the Same, Dulcinea, I’m Only Thinking of Him, The Impossible Dream, I Really Like Him and Little Bird remain in your thoughts and in your soul well after you see the show.
His dream is Everyman’s dream. His tilting at windmills is Everyman’s great adventure. Somehow, the footlights disappear, time is telescoped and the “Man of La Mancha” speaks for humankind.

An imprisoned Miguel de Cervantes gets his fellow inmates to enact the story of his novel, Don Quixote, about an aged nobleman who declares himself a "knight errant" out to do battle for good and the love of a fair maiden, in Mitch Leigh, Joe Darion and Dale Wasserman's musical adaptation of the classic Cervantes novel.