I had an opportunity to see Man of La Mancha a second time. This time, I brought my 12 year old daughter who said she loved it. She was not saying this to please the IT! Insider (a.k.a. mom). She was genuinely entertained, as well as the Insider's better half who is not into musicals. The music can't help but draw you into the story. . . and who doesn't like a good story. Just ask the Governor! I appreciated so many little moments of humor, insight, and its timeless message. Come see Man of La Mancha this weekend. Both shows on Saturday and Sunday begin at 2:00 p.m. The box office and theater, located in the El Dorado County Fairground, opens at 1:30. Don't miss it.
When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender dreams, this may be madness. To seek treasure where there is only trash... too much sanity may be madness! And maddest of all... to see life as it is and not as it should be!
A recent audience member wrote a letter to the Mt. Democrat about how much she enjoyed Man of La Mancha--especially watching The Governor. She was impressed with his commanding presence and appearance. However, the cast suspects a typo in the letter as he was described as sexist rather than sexiest. I guess we'll leave that for you to determine. See the show this week and decide for yourself who is the sexiest!
Don't miss IT!'s last four shows of Man of La Mancha.
Thursday, April 16 at 7:00 p.m. (all seats $9 this show) Friday, April 17 at 7:00 p.m. Saturday, April 18 at 2:00 p.m. Sunday, April 19 at 2:00 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased in advance (with a Visa or Mastercard) or at the door. Call 530-642-0404. The best seats available are at our closing show on Sunday, April 19. Adults $16, Senior $13, and Children $9. The theater is located on the El Dorado County Fairgrounds in Placerville.
It's not a dream--an impossible dream! All seats for Man of La Mancha are $9 for this Thursday, April 9. You do not need to be a student to take advantage of Student Night. Call the theater at 530-642-0404 to purchase your tickets. Tickets will also be available at the door. Box Office opens at 6:30 p.m.
The production was great! We all enjoyed it! I'm always amazed at the talent we have here in El Dorado County. My students loved it. In fact, they studied the program and want to come again next Fall, probably to Beauty and the Beast. I'll pass the word around here that everyone should come to Man of LaMancha. Thanks!
Did you miss the opening weekend of Man of La Mancha? It's not too late to purchase tickets for next weekend's shows. Tickets are still available for Friday, April 3 at 7:00 p.m., Saturday, April 4 at 2:00 p.m., and Sunday, April 5 at 2:00 p.m. See the show soon; you won't be disappointed.
Tickets are on sale now for the musical Man of La Mancha. Contact the box office at 530-642-0404. Below is a video of Ambassadors in Harmony singing one of the songs from the musical. Very cool.
Although the following clip is about the upturn in movie audiences during the downturn in the economy, it still is a reminder that RELIEF can also be spelled
L-I-V-E--T-H-E-A-T-E-R.
Imagination Theater! tickets prices are a great value--even more reasonable than a movie ticket. Man of La Mancha, opening at the end of the month, all tickets will be $9 on Thursday nights, April 9 and 16. Weekend matinees aren't much more, especially if you come in a group. Spend an afternoon or evening with us--and escape to another place and time. 530-642-0404 for tickets.
Assistant Stage Manager (Age 18+) needed for Man of La Mancha. Must be available current rehearsals and show dates. Some heavy lifting required. Please contact Lanny directly at 530-903-6361 for additional information.
Group Tickets for Man of La Mancha Available for Purchase Meaning: Success comes to those who prepare well and put in effort. Origin: This is first recorded in John Ray's "A collection of English proverbs 1670, 1678"
"The early bird catches the worm" is a common proverb that explains that the best comes to those who seek out the best, don't wait (procrastinate), or expect that someone is going to do the work for them. Imagination Theater! would like you to prepare to come, invite your friends, and purchase group tickets for Man of La Mancha.
If you're involved in a church group, service club, senior group, college drama class, or an informal "Mom's Night Out" or bunko club, we encourage you to call soon for group tickets to get the best choice of seats and enjoy a night of live theater. Group price varies by size. Savings is about $4-5 per ticket off the adult ticket price. The box office is open Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Call 530-642-0404.
Advance ticket reservations for Man of La Mancha are currently underway for our sponsors. Tickets to the general public will go on sale on February 17. Contact the box office at 530-642-0404 for tickets.
In case you don't recall the story of the Man of La Mancha, here is a summary to refresh your memory.
Miguel de Cervantes, aging and an utter failure as playwright, poet and tax collector, has been thrown into a dungeon in Seville to await trial by the Inquisition for an offense against the Church. There he is dragged before a kangaroo court of his fellow prisoners, who plan to confiscate his few possessions—including the uncompleted manuscript of a novel, Don Quixote.
Cervantes, seeking to save the manuscript, proposes his defense in the form of a play. The "court" agrees, and Cervantes and his manservant don make-up and costumes, transforming themselves into Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. They then play out the story with the prisoners taking the roles of other characters.
Quixote and Sancho take to the road in a quest to restore the age of chivalry, battle all evil, and right all wrongs. The famous battle with the windmill follows, with Quixote blaming his defeat on his enemy, the Great Enchanter.
In a roadside inn—which Quixote insists is really a castle—Aldonza, the inn's serving girl and part-time prostitute, is being propositioned by a gang of muleteers. Quixote sees her as the dream-ideal whom he will serve forever and insists her name is Dulcinea. Aldonza is confused and angered by Quixote's refusal to see her as she really is.
The padre and Dr. Carrasco arrive at the inn and are frustrated by Quixote's lunatic logic. They are interrupted by the arrival of an itinerant barber, and Quixote confiscates his shaving basin, believing it is the "Golden Helmet" of Mambrino.
Later Aldonza encounters Quixote in the courtyard where he is holding vigil, in preparation for being knighted by the innkeeper. She questions him on his seemingly irrational ways , and Quixote answers her with a statement of his credo, The Impossible Dream. Aldonza catches the fever of Quixote's idealism but, attempting to put it into practice, is cruelly beaten and ravaged by the muleteers.
Not knowing Aldonza's plight, Quixote and Sancho leave the inn, encounter a band of Gypsies, and are robbed. They return to the inn, only to encounter the disillusioned Aldonza who sings her denunciation of Quixote's dream in the dramatic Aldonza. The Knight of the Mirrors enters and defeats Quixote by forcing him to see himself as "naught but an aging fool." The knight reveals himself as Dr. Carrasco, sent by Quixote's family to bring him to his senses.
At home again, the old man who once called himself Don Quixote is dying. Aldonza, having followed, forces her way into the room and pleads with him to restore the vision of glory she held so briefly. Quixote, remembering, rises from his bed to reaffirm the stirring Man of La Mancha, but collapses, dying. Aldonza, having glimpsed the vision once more, refuses to acknowledge his death, saying, "My name is Dulcinea."
Back in Cervantes's dungeon the prisoners have been deeply affected by his story and restore to him his precious manuscript. Cervantes is summoned to his real trial by the Inquisition. The prisoners unite to sing him on his way with The Impossible Dream.
The show, directed by Wendy Silverthorn, will run at Imagination Theater from March 27 to April 19.
IT! will presenting the musical, The Man of La Mancha, March 27 through April 19. All Saturday and Sunday shows are matinees. There is no show scheduled on Easter Sunday.
Friday, March 27 at 7:00 p.m. Saturday, March 28 at 2:00 p.m. Sunday, March 29 at 2:00 p.m.
Friday, April 3 at 7:00 p.m. Saturday, April 4 at 2:00 p.m. Sunday, April 5 at 2:00 p.m.
Thursday, April 9 at 7:00 p.m. - All Seats $9 Friday, April 10 at 7:00 p.m. Saturday, April 11 at 2:00 p.m. No show on Easter Sunday
Thursday, April 16 at 7:00 p.m. - All Seats $9 Friday, April 17 at 7:00 p.m. Saturday, April 18 at 2:00 p.m. Sunday, April 19 at 2:00 p.m.
PHOENIX – Dale Wasserman, author of the book for the Tony-winning musical "Man of La Mancha" as well as the stage adaptation of Ken Kesey's novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," has died. He was 94.
Wasserman died Dec. 21 of congestive heart failure at his home in the Phoenix suburb of Paradise Valley, his wife, Martha, said Saturday.
"Man of La Mancha," the tale of the intrepid, ever idealistic Don Quixote, was one of Broadway's biggest hits in the 1960s. The show, which starred Richard Kiley and Joan Diener, opened in 1965 and won the Tony for best musical. It ran for more than 2,300 performances.
Its best known song, "The Impossible Dream," written by composer Mitch Leigh and lyricist Joe Darion, became a popular hit, particularly in a version by Jack Jones. The show has had several Broadway revivals since the '60s, with the latest in 2002 starring Brian Stokes Mitchell and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio.
Wasserman's adaptation of "Cuckoo's Nest," Kesey's novel about a renegade mental hospital inmate, opened on Broadway in 1963. The production, which starred Kirk Douglas and Joan Tetzel, only ran for a little over two months but later became a fixture in community theaters. It was revived on Broadway in 2001 with Gary Sinise and Amy Morton in the lead roles.
Although most people are familiar with the 1975 Oscar-winning film adaptation of "Cuckoo's Nest," which starred Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher, Kesey told The Associated Press shortly before his death in 2001 that he was more grateful for Wasserman's work on the play version, which has been published in 27 languages.
"Without the play, the novel would have made a little bubble," Kesey said.
Wasserman began writing television dramas in the 1950s, then went on to pen screenplays, including 1958's "The Vikings" starring Douglas and Tony Curtis, and "Mister Buddwing" starring James Garner in 1966.
Born in Rhinelander, Wis., as one of 14 children of Russian immigrants, he was orphaned at age 10 and sent to live with uncles and aunts. Wasserman wrote on his Web site that he left home and spent years "jumping freight trains, graduating as a Hobo cum laude," eventually ending up with a career in theater.
Author of more than 75 scripts, Wasserman continued to work until his death, making revisions to a play based on his early hobo life called "Burning in the Night," his wife said. His latest finished play, "Premiere!" is set to open in a suburban Phoenix theater next month.
Ever the forward-thinking writer, he gave his wife instructions for his obituary months ago: "'The only thing I would want the newspaper to say is this: He invented the phrase 'The Impossible Dream' — and lived it,'" Martha Wasserman recalled.
