Man of La Mancha is a 1964
musical adapted from a non-musical 1959 teleplay I, Don Quixote, which
was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervantes and his 17th-century masterpiece Don
Quixote. It tells the story of the "mad" knight Don Quixote as a play
within a play, performed by Cervantes and his fellow prisoners as he awaits a
hearing with the Spanish Inquisition. The work is not and does not pretend to
be a faithful rendition of either Cervantes' life or of Don Quixote.
The original 1965 Broadway production ran for 2,328 performances and won
five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The musical has been revived four
times on Broadway, becoming one of the most enduring works of musical theatre.
The principal song, "The Impossible Dream", became a standard.
Synopsis
In the late sixteenth century, failed author-soldier-actor and tax
collector Miguel de Cervantes has been thrown into a dungeon by the Spanish
Inquisition, along with his manservant. They have been charged with foreclosing
on a monastery. The two have brought all their possessions with them into the
dungeon. There, they are attacked by their fellow prisoners, who instantly set
up a mock trial. If Cervantes is found guilty, he will have to hand over all
his possessions. Cervantes agrees to do so, except for a precious manuscript
that the prisoners are all too eager to burn. He asks to be allowed to offer a
defense, and the defense will be a play, acted out by him and all the
prisoners. The "judge", a sympathetic criminal called "the
Governor", agrees.
Cervantes takes out a makeup kit from his trunk, and the manservant helps
him get into a costume. In a few short moments, Cervantes has transformed
himself into Alonso Quijano, an old gentleman who has read so many books of
chivalry and thought so much about injustice that he has lost his mind and now
believes that he should go forth as a knight-errant. Quijano renames himself
Don Quixote de La Mancha, and sets out to find adventures with his
"squire", Sancho Panza. ("Man of La Mancha (I, Don Quixote)").
Don Quixote warns Sancho that the pair are always in danger of being
attacked by Quixote's mortal enemy, an evil magician known as the Enchanter.
Suddenly he spots a windmill. Seeing its sails whirling, he mistakes it for a
four-armed giant, attacks it, and receives a beating from the encounter. He
thinks he knows why he has been defeated: It is because he has not been
properly dubbed a knight. Looking off, he imagines he sees a castle (it is
really a rundown roadside inn). He orders Sancho to announce their arrival by
blowing his bugle, and the two proceed to the inn.
Cervantes talks some prisoners into assuming the roles of the inn's serving
wench and part-time prostitute Aldonza and a group of muleteers who are
propositioning her. Fending them off sarcastically ("It's All The
Same"), she eventually deigns to accept their leader, Pedro, who pays in
advance.
Don Quixote enters with Sancho, upset at not having been
"announced" by a "dwarf". The Innkeeper (played by The
Governor) treats them sympathetically and humors Don Quixote, but when Quixote
catches sight of Aldonza, he believes her to be the lady Dulcinea, to whom he
has sworn eternal loyalty ("Dulcinea"). Aldonza, used to being
roughly handled, is flabbergasted, then annoyed, at Quixote's strange and kind
treatment of her, and is further aggravated when the Muleteers turn Quixote's
tender ballad into a mocking serenade.
Meanwhile, Antonia, Don Quixote's niece, has gone with Quixote's
housekeeper to seek advice from the local priest, who realizes that the two
women are more concerned with the embarrassment the knight's madness may bring
than with his welfare ("I'm Only Thinking of Him").
The mock-trial's prosecutor, a cynic called "The Duke", is chosen
by Cervantes to play Dr. Sanson Carrasco, Antonia's fiancé, a man just as
cynical and self-centered as the prisoner who is playing him. Carrasco is upset
at the idea of having a madman in his prospective new family but the padre
cleverly convinces him that it would be a challenge worthy of his abilities to
cure his prospective uncle-in-law, so he and the priest set out to bring Don
Quixote back home ("I'm Only Thinking of Him [Reprise]").
Back at the inn, Sancho delivers a missive from Don Quixote to Aldonza
courting her favor and asking for a token. Instead, Aldonza tosses an old
dishrag at Sancho, but to Don Quixote the dishrag is a silken scarf. When
Aldonza asks Sancho why he follows Quixote, he can come up with no explanation
other than "I Really Like Him". Alone, Aldonza ponders the Knight's
behavior and her inability to laugh at him ("What Do You Want of
Me?") In the courtyard, the muleteers once again taunt her with a
suggestive song ("Little Bird, Little Bird"). Pedro makes
arrangements with Aldonza for an assignation later.
The priest and Dr. Carrasco arrive, but cannot reason with Don Quixote, who
suddenly spots a barber wearing his shaving basin on his head to ward off the
sun's heat ("The Barber's Song"). Quixote immediately snatches the
basin from the barber at sword's point, believing it to be the miraculous
"Golden Helmet of Mambrino", which will make him invulnerable. Dr.
Carrasco and the priest leave, with the priest impressed by Don Quixote's view
of life and wondering if curing him is really worthwhile ("To Each His Dulcinea").
Meanwhile, Quixote asks the Innkeeper to dub him knight. The innkeeper
agrees, but first Quixote must stand vigil all night over his armor. Quixote
asks to be guided to the "chapel" for his vigil, and the Innkeeper
hastily concocts an excuse: the "chapel" is "being
repaired". Quixote decides to keep his vigil in the courtyard. As he does
so, Aldonza, on her way to her rendezvous with Pedro, finally confronts him,
but Quixote gently explains why he behaves the way he does ("The
Impossible Dream"). Pedro enters, furious at being kept waiting, and slaps
Aldonza. Enraged, Don Quixote takes him and all the other muleteers on in a
huge fight, ("The Combat"). Don Quixote has no martial skill, but by
luck and determination – and with the help of Aldonza and Sancho – he prevails,
and the muleteers are all knocked unconscious. But the noise has awakened the
Innkeeper, who enters and kindly tells Quixote that he must leave. Quixote
apologizes for the trouble but reminds the Innkeeper of his promise to dub him
knight. The Innkeeper does so ("Knight of the Woeful Countenance").
Quixote then announces he must try to help the muleteers. Aldonza, whom
Quixote still calls Dulcinea, is shocked, but after the knight explains that
the laws of chivalry demand that he succor a fallen enemy, Aldonza agrees to
help them. For her efforts, she is beaten, raped, and carried off by the
muleteers, who leave the inn ("The Abduction"). Quixote, in his small
room, is blissfully ruminating over his recent victory and the new title that
the innkeeper has given him – and completely unaware of what has just happened
to Aldonza ("The Impossible Dream" – first reprise).
At this point, the Don Quixote play is brutally interrupted when the
Inquisition enters the dungeon and drags off an unwilling prisoner to be tried.
The Duke taunts Cervantes for his look of fear, and accuses him of not facing
reality. This prompts a passionate defense of idealism by Cervantes.
The Don Quixote play resumes ("Man of La Mancha" – first
reprise). Quixote and Sancho have left the inn and encounter a band of Gypsies
("Moorish Dance") who take advantage of Quixote's naiveté and proceed
to steal everything they own, including Quixote's horse Rocinante and Sancho's
donkey Dapple. The two are forced to return to the inn. The Innkeeper tries to
keep them out but finally cannot resist letting them back in out of pity. Aldonza
shows up with several bruises. Quixote swears to avenge her, but she angrily
tells him off, begging him to leave her alone and flinging her real, pitiful
history in his face and blaming him for allowing her a glimpse of a life she
can never have. She begs him to see her as she really is but Quixote can only
see her as his Dulcinea ("Aldonza").
Suddenly, another knight enters. He announces himself as Don Quixote's mortal
enemy, the Enchanter, this time appearing as the "Knight of the
Mirrors". He insults Aldonza, and is promptly challenged to combat by Don
Quixote. The Knight of the Mirrors and his attendants bear huge shields with
mirrors on them, and as they swing them at Quixote ("Knight of the
Mirrors"), the glare from the sunlight blinds him. The attacking Knight
taunts him, forcing him to see himself as the world sees him – as a fool and a
madman. Don Quixote collapses, weeping. The Knight of the Mirrors removes his
own helmet – he is really Dr. Carrasco, returned with his latest plan to cure
Quixote.
Cervantes announces that the story is finished at least as far as he has
written it, but the prisoners are dissatisfied with the ending. They prepare to
burn his manuscript when he asks for the chance to present one last scene.
The Governor agrees, and we are now in Alonso Quijano's bedroom, where he
has fallen into a coma. Antonia, Sancho, the Housekeeper, the priest, and
Carrasco are all there. Sancho tries to cheer up Quijano ("A Little
Gossip"). Alonso Quijano eventually awakens and when questioned reveals
that he is now sane, remembering his knightly career as only a vague dream. He
realizes that he is now dying and asks the priest to help him make out his
will. As Quijano begins to dictate, Aldonza forces her way in. She has come to
visit Quixote because she has found that she can no longer bear to be anyone
but Dulcinea. When he does not recognize her, she sings a reprise of
"Dulcinea" to him and tries to help him remember the words of
"The Impossible Dream". Suddenly, he remembers everything and rises
from his bed, calling for his armor and sword so that he may set out again.
("Man of La Mancha" – second reprise) But it is too late – in mid-song,
he suddenly cries out and falls dead. The priest sings "The Psalm"
(Psalm 130 in Latin) for the dead. However, Aldonza now believes in him so much
that, to her, Don Quixote will always live: "A man died. He seemed a good
man, but I did not know him ... Don Quixote is not dead. Believe, Sancho ...
believe." When Sancho calls her by name, she replies, "My name is
Dulcinea."
The Inquisition enters to take Cervantes to his trial, and the prisoners,
finding him not guilty, return his manuscript. It is his (as yet) unfinished
novel, "Don Quixote de la Mancha". As Cervantes and his servant mount
the staircase to go to their impending trial, the prisoners, led by the girl
who played Dulcinea, sing "The Impossible Dream" in chorus.
