“Man of La Mancha”
In the spring of 2009, I had the pleasure of playing Mother Bane in the cast of the Reprise Theatre Company’s production of Man of La Mancha, directed by Michael Michetti. The production starred Brent Spiner as Cervantes, Lee Wilkof as Sancho, and Julia Migenes as Aldonza, and it was a remarkable experience. Michael Donovan, a prince among men, was the casting director.
(Left) Brent Spiner and Wendy Worthington backstage.
Michael had been in close communication with Dale Wasserman, the author of the book; with his permission, he had made a number of small but critical adjustments in the script, using Mr. Wasserman’s original nonmusical screenplay as source material. He trimmed down the cast to enable the audience to get to know all the prisoners incarcerated with Cervantes as distinct individuals and to focus on the impact on all of us in hearing and recreating the story of Don Quixote. We had a short but intense rehearsal period and then performed the show 25 times over the course of three weeks, always to sold-out houses. Michael had just gotten final script approval from Mr. Wasserman when the playwright died just after Christmas, at the age of 94.
Musical Director Brad Ellis (who can now be glimpsed regularly as the piano player on ABC-TV’s Glee) was also a joy to work with. Jason Alexander is Reprise’s Artistic Director, and he provided a warm and welcoming environment for the production. I’d work with them all again in a heartbeat.
(Left) Maegan McConnell, Robert Mammana, Jason Alexander, Ethan Le Phong, and Wendy Worthington following dress rehearsal.
