LCT's MAN OF LA MANCHA Concert — Page 2

brdwybound04 said: "I continue to hopefor a Bartlett Sher directed LCT revival starring Paulo Szot as Don Quixote, Kelli O’Hara as Aldonza, and Danny Burstein as Sancho Panza…"

Kelli O'Hara as Aldonza?!?!?!?

Oh dear. No.

Love the woman, but no.

Per LCT email, performance-only tickets now available on Telecharge.

I was there last night and will share my thoughts here for those who are interested.

It was a concert production, with the 17-piece orchestra (under Ted Sperling's direction) at the rear of the Beaumont stage, a line of chairs on either side for the performers, and a back wall that was effectively used for projections of the prison, the inn, the courtyard, etc. There was no other set; in place of the usual drawbridge, Cervantes and Sancho made their final exits up the audience aisles. Actors mostly wore street clothes, with several sporting baseball caps, and donned (very) limited costume pieces from Cervantes' trunk to take on roles in the "trial." Rolando Villazon and Lindsay Mendez appeared to be the only ones fully off book, with others relying on scripts to varying degrees. The originally intermission-less show was performed with an intermission, somewhat awkwardly placed after "To Each His Dulcinea."

The performance was staged more fully than I anticipated, including a fully (if simply) blocked "Combat" scene, but certain elements were sadly absent, including Cervantes' transformation to Quixote (which was limited to putting on a chest armor piece) and the horse choreography in the opening number. And for whatever reason, the abduction/rape scene, so critical to the emotional power of what follows, was limited to a couple of muleteers pushing Aldonza to the ground; someone unfamiliar with the show would have no idea what had happened.

Villazon was fine in the role of Don Quixote/Cervantes. Although I'm an opera buff, I'm generally not a big fan of operatic voices singing musical theater (the Jose Carreras/Kiri Te Kanawa "West Side Story" recording stands out in my mind, and not in a good way), but it somehow fits better for this role than for others. His strong accent made some of the dialogue difficult to catch, but he acted the role well enough and sang it beautifully (with the exception of "Golden Helmet of Mambrino," where he sang a 5/4 measure in 4/4 at the outset and frustratingly remained a beat ahead of the orchestra for half the song while Sperling desperately tried to get them back in sync). His "Impossible Dream" was, not surprisingly, terrific.

I thought Mendez started off weak; she skipped the high A flat at the end of "It's All the Same," and my friends and I all felt at intermission that she was sorely lacking any of the fire, anger, and bitterness of Aldonza; in her stance, accent, and delivery, she seemed less an abused Spanish stable whore than a mildly perturbed Brooklynite. But maybe that was a choice and she was saving it up, because she exploded in the second act with a furious and heartbreaking "Aldonza" that brought down the house and left me and my neighbors in tears. I've seen the show many times, and I've never been as broken by that number as I was here. It was the highlight of the night.

Robin de Jesus sang Sancho pleasantly enough, but unfortunately missed much of the comedy, and many of the usual laugh lines fell flat. With more than one opportunity to play to an audience, I'm sure he'd find the humor, but I left thinking that the originally announced Harvey Guillen would have been more suited to the role.

Standouts among the supporting cast were Maria Bilbao as Antonia, Bonnie Milligan as the Housekeeper, and J. Harrison Ghee as the Padre; their "I'm Only Thinking of Him" was the clear highlight of Act One. In response to an earlier comment on this thread, the changed-up doubling of the Innkeeper with the Captain of the Inquisition (instead of the Governor) remained an unexplained oddity, and while I'll never regret seeing Patrick Page in anything, it simply made no sense that the Captain of the Inquisition who was summoning prisoners to their doom would be hanging out in the dungeon with them and playing a part in their own "trial" of Cervantes.

For a one-night concert staging, this exceeded my expectations; understandably rough around the edges, but several encouraging flashes of what we might see in a more fully realized Barlett Sher production.

Updated On: 5/19/26 at 11:43 AM

I was there as well. It was far more fleshed out and staged than I expected with the rehearsal time. I thought the costuming was very smart and the prison background looked great. My only disappointment with the staging/movement (though I can understand why this might have been hard with the time constraints) is that the muleteers barely touched Aldonza. There was a lot of physical lust and testosterone missing from “it’s all the same” with the muleteers mostly just sitting around her while she wove through them. It made it seem like Aldonza mostly struggles with being teased and cat called rather than used and abused. I echo what someone said above about the rape barely registering. I was also frustrated with the breakneck speed of It’s All the Same and ESPECIALLY the ending scene where Aldonza sings Dulcinea to Quijana on his death bed. That part usually makes me cry and last night it was distractingly quick.


Overall, I felt Villazon gave a great, impassioned performance and was impressed he was totally off book. I thought he sounded great too. I did think one little slip was especially funny: “No longer shall he be plain Alonso Quijana… but a dauntless knight known as… ALONSO QUIJANA!!” (Luckily he was able to insert the correct “Don Quixote de La Mancha!” before he had to start singing.)

I agree that Robin de Jesus could have found more laughs, but I’m mindful of how quickly he had to fill in and thought he was very endearing and sounded wonderful.


Highlight of the night: I’m Only Thinking of Him. No notes - all three of them were WOW. Hilarious, surprising, and sounded better than any other trio I’ve seen sing it, and I’ve seen many many La Manchas. It was an unforgettable moment.

Also have to shout out Patrick Page who is so reliably excellent.

For a one night only staged concert, I thought it was a success - even if their limitations affected some of the emotional impact. I also agree that Mendez’s performance of Aldonza was fantastic.