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MAN
OF LA MANCHA |
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'Only
he who attempts the absurd is capable of achieving the impossible' That
quotation from the twentieth-century philosopher Miguel de Unamuno was the
inspiration behind the creation of Man of La Mancha, the prize winning
1965 Broadway musical. It must certainly have seemed absurd to try to make
a musical based on 16th century Spanish literature about an old man who
goes crazy, imagines he is a knight running around tilting at windmills,
trying to turn ugly old peasant whores into fair ladies. The show ran for
six years, won five Tony Awards and was produced in 50 countries in more
than 30 languages. The song 'The Impossible Dream' became an instant
standard. |
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It
is a powerful story of Miguel de Cervantes, poet, actor and tax collector,
who is thrown into jail with his faithful manservant - Sancho Panza, to be
brought before the Inquisition for foreclosing on a church. In this dank
place are thieves and murderers, all awaiting judgement of one form or
another. They eagerly receive the newcomers, holding a mock trial for
their amusement - the sentence being a fine of all that they posses.
Cervantes is allowed to conduct his own defence and pleads his case in the
form of a charade. It is now that we enter into his imagination and meet
the faded knight - Don Quixote de la Mancha, who sees the world as non one
else. His striving to see only the good in mankind finally win over the
makeshift jury, as he departs to plead again, this time for his life
before the Inquisition. |
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