Two local theatre companies prove that keeping true to the original creative team's intent of a story can pay dividends to both the play and the audience. Coincidentally, both remounts of two of the most successful musicals of all time have roots in the 1960's and both focused the lost art of telling a story in the most minimalistic way possible, using the viewers imagination.
The most prominent of this method is 1965's ground breaking Man of La Mancha, where Richard Kiley's remarkable portrayal of Miquel de Cervantes, whose fictional Knight thought that the maddest thing of all is for a person to view life as it is and not as it should be, is retold in Theatre at the Center's production starring one the finest Quixote's to mount Rosinante, James Harms. Mr. Harms possesses a melodic baritone which effortlessly moves through Mitch Leigh's stellar melodies great ease. ‘I Don Quixote', ‘Dulcinea' and ‘The Impossible Dream' remind one of Kiley and the final death scene is simply a tear jerker.
Director William Pullinisi keeps a firm grip on the action, and allows the actors to tell the story within a story in a no nonsense way, and is as close to the original staging as has been done in a long time (Chicago Chamber Opera also did a true to the original spirit production earlier this year). Anyone who witnessed the debacle of the recent Broadway revival knows what I am taking about. The more a director tries to make La Mancha a spectacle, the more the story will fail. It is about imagination, entering in and coming to view one's life with a since of purpose before the consequences of one's actions lead to a life with no meaning.
Erica Mac does a yeoman's job of tackling Aldonza's gravitas. The role is hands down, one of the most difficult written in the musical theatre genre, both physically and vocally. Ms. Mac is stunningly tragic, just as Cerventes' character calls for and her interpretation of the song ‘Aldonza' is a showstopper just as much as Quixote's ‘The Quest'. Many actresses make a mistake of trying to emulate Joan Diener who created the role. Diener's voice was so unique that many songs were rewritten in different keys to show off her instrument, however, those key changes stuck in the published version of the score, much to the chagrin of actresses to follow. Ms. Mac makes the songs her own and is emerging as one of the finest musical theatre actresses Chicago has seen in a long time.
David Perkovich's Sancho Panza has great chemistry with Mr. Harms and the ensemble proves the old adage that there are no small parts as everyone of the cast manifests into different characters with the sole purpose of telling the Knight Errants story.
Man of La Mancha runs through October 15, 2009 at Theatre at the Center, 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, IN, For tickets, please call the Box Office at 219-836-3255 or visit www.theatreatthecenter.com