There are times we all find ourselves dreaming the impossible dream. But the Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts’ production of “Man of La Mancha” ensures that — at least for one night — we come a step closer to making that dream a reality.
The 1965 musical adapted from Dale Wasserman’s novel and later non-musical teleplay “I, Don Quixote,” came to life in a contemporary reimagining Friday evening. Set as a musical about a play, Wirtz’s “Man of La Mancha” is a heartfelt, hopeful ode to the struggling reality of undocumented individuals awaiting deportation.
“Man of La Mancha” follows imprisoned protagonist Miguel de Cervantes (Communication senior Esteban Ortiz-Villacorta), as he stages a play in his prison cell to save his manuscript.
Through the story of Don Quixote — an aging man who believes he is a knight destined to right the world’s wrongs — Cervantes brings his cellmates together by inviting them to join his imaginative storytelling journey.
While the original production of the musical is set during the Spanish Inquisition, Department of Theatre Chair and Director Henry Godinez gave the play a modern spin.
He found inspiration in his daughter Gaby’s own staging of the show in 2021, which drew a “frightening parallel” between the Inquisition’s prison and modern-day detention centers for undocumented immigrants along the United States’ southern border, according to the show’s program.
Four years later, Godinez borrowed his daughter’s concept and successfully made her dream a reality.
The show — and its brave reimagining — does not disappoint. With Mitch Leigh’s “The Impossible Dream” echoing throughout the performance, the space becomes a touching fusion of a detention center and a theatrical stage. Worn-out warning signs and rusty metal beds become lost within the lively scattering of medieval costumes and twinkling lights.
Most powerful, however, is Ortiz-Villacorta’s performance of Cervantes/Don Quixote, whose passionate commitment to his dream of white-knight heroism stirs not only his on-stage cellmates, but his audience.
His performance reminds audiences that we, too, can feel laughed at or undermined for our dreams. But as in the case of Cervantes/Don Quixote, we just have to keep on dreaming.
It’s also practically impossible to not fall in love with the protagonist’s muse, Aldonza/Dulcinea (Communication senior Isadora Coco Gonzalez). Her fierce stomping around the stage and resonant singing makes the audience empathize with her struggle while admiring her presence. Every time she turns her knight away, our heart cracks a little, making the ending all the more satisfying.
The duo’s love story is dramatic enough to shed tears, but is also sprinkled with the perfect amount of comedy, especially through Sancho Panza’s (Communication senior Nathan Hiykel) adorable, loyal character.
His rendition of “I Really Like Him” is the epitome of musical humor, reminding us in the most light-hearted way how much love — whether romantic or platonic — can be the sizzling catalyst that keeps us going.
But not all of “La Mancha” was a joyful, fantastical musical routine. The second act delivers a sudden, brutal shock with Aldonza’s assault unfolding on stage, which should have warranted a trigger warning.
Though carefully choreographed by Godinez and Intimacy Designer Cristin Carole to show Aldonza’s body dissociating, the scene is still difficult to watch, lingering just long enough to feel unbearably uncomfortable and at the same time all the more heartbreaking.
While being taken on a rollercoaster of emotions, the audience’s absorption would not be possible without the ensemble’s soaring vocals. Throughout the two-hour performance, the ensemble finds the right moments to set the room tingling.
Within this powerful troupe, one voice uniquely stands out: Padre (Bienen sophomore Mackenzie Kirkwood) and his operatic tenor arrangement of “To Each His Dulcinea.” Even within his contribution to the ensemble, one solo did not suffice for the audience.
With every note, desperate plea and joyful outburst, Wirtz’s “Man of La Mancha” reminds us that even in the bleakest and darkest spaces, hope can take center stage. By the final and most memorable scene, the impossible dream feels defiantly within reach — if only we dare to fight for it.
“Man of La Mancha” will run from April 25 to May 4 at the Ethel M. Barber Theater.
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