Man of La Mancha #2

OPENING: September 15, 1977

CLOSING: December 31, 1977

Seen: Fall/Winter 1977

LOCATION: Palace Theatre

There’s something to be said for finding your place and tribe.

For me, this first happened when I discovered theatre as a young kid. It happened again when I became a drama major. And it’s happened again in the past year, when I’ve started working more and become more of the theatre professional I always wanted to be.

This feeling of wanting to belong is universal. Everyone wants to be a part of something and wants to be accepted. For some theatregoers, this could be as simple as finding a show that really, truly resonates with them. And for some performers, it can be a show that you keep coming back to.

For my dad, this show was Man of La Mancha. And it was that show for Richard Kiley, the original Don Quixote.

As mentioned previously, the underlying theme of the entire show is unwavering hope. To never stop chasing you truly want and feel in the bottom of your soul. Three years after La Mancha stumbled onto the ANTA stage, the Vietnam war broke up. Kennedy had been assassinated two years prior to opening. The Cold War with the Soviets was still in full swing. The US was in a constant state of agita because no one knew if we were going to get nuked. Is it any surprise that La Mancha, which comes dangerously close to shoving it’s message down the audience’s throats, became The Little Musical That Could?

In my opinion – absolutely not.

The original run of La Mancha closed in 1971. In the years that followed, tensions between the US and the Soviets increased, the Watergate Scandal played out, and the Vietnam War played across TV screens on a 24 Hour news cycle before finally came to its bloody conclusion. I believe it is fair to assume that by 1977, the theatre community needed Man of La Mancha more than it did before.

Richard Kiley was a bit of an enigma in the theatre world. He was not a traditionally good looking guy, nor was he the greatest singer by the theatre standards of his time. However, because of his ability to poke fun of himself and just exude his natural abilities, he consistently worked on TV or Broadway from 1950 until his death in 1999. IMDB even lists a credit that came out three years after his death in 2002. And if you listen to any one of his recordings now, his voice is rich and full of life, though not *quite* as trained or deep as many of the respected singers of the era.

But the emotions that man could make an audience member feel was, in my opinion, one of the main reasons Man of La Mancha took off in 1965 the way it did. It takes a lot for my dad to feel something when sitting in a theater other than being entertained. To my knowledge, has seen La Mancha a grand total of four times over the course of fifty years and he has a very clear sense of what the show is and what is supposed to happen. And that is because of Mr. Kiley.

When Mr. Kiley left the original production of La Mancha, he did not hang up his armor for long. Between the original opening in 1965 and the opening of the Broadway Revival/National Tour in 1977, he played Don Quioxte at least once a year in regional productions. Therefore, when it was brought back to Broadway in 1977 before embarking on a national tour, it was only natural that Kiley resume his duties as the Knight of the Woeful Countenance. And according to multiple New York Times reviews, his 1977 appearance was more nuanced and well-rounded than his 1965 foray.

This production was unique in a variety of ways. For one, without doing additional research, I cannot think of another production that came to Broadway as a limited engagement and then packed up and took the Broadway cast on tour. I believe that it was done this way to showcase Kiley nationally, though there may be reasons that I am unaware of. Also an interesting factoid? This is the earliest playbill in my dad’s collection to include the headshots of the performers. For anyone reading this who is not a frequent Broadway attendee – this is now standard practice and it’s more uncommon to be handed a program without these headshots.

It's funny how things work sometimes. Mr. Kiley wasn’t even supposed to play Don Quioxte and it took declinations from multiple name stars for him to even be considered. But in the end, the right choice was made, for both the legacy of the show and Mr. Kiley. I don’t think anyone can imagine anyone else in the role, and it gave Mr. Kiley a career boost that he didn’t know he needed.

Mr. Kiley found his tribe. May we all have such luck.

CAST: ORIGINAL

DON QUIXOTE: Richard Kiley

SANCHO: Tony Martinez

THE HORSE: Ben Vargas

THE MULE: Hector Mercado

THE INNKEEPER: Bob Wright

MARIA, THE INNKEEPER’S WIFE: Marceline Decker

PEDRO, HEAD MULETEER: Chev Rodgers

ANSELMO, A MULETEER: Ted Forlow

JUAN, A MULETEER: Mark Holliday

TENORIO, A MULETEER: Ben Vargas

PACO, A MULETEER: Anthony DeVecchi

JOSE, A MULETEER: Hector Mercado

ALDONZA: Emily Yancy

FERMINA, A SLAVEY: Joan Susswein

GUITARIST: Robin Polseno

JORGE, A MULETEER: Edmond Varrato

FERNANDO, A MULETEER: David Wasson

ANTONIA: Harriet Conrad

THE HOUSEKEEPER: Margaret Coleman

THE PADRE: Taylor Reed

DR. CARRASCO: Ian Sullivan

THE BARBER: Ted Forlow

MOORISH DANCER: Joan Susswein

THE CAPTAIN: Renato Cibelli

GUARDS: Michael St. Paul, David Wasson

UNDERSTUDIES: Joan Susswein (Aldonza, Antonia); Edmond Varrato (Barber); Mark Holiday (Anselmo, Padre); Renato Cibelli (Innkeeper); David Wasson (Padre, Dr. Carrasco); Marshall Borden (Dr. Carrasco); Marceline Decker (Housekeeper); Kay Vance (Maria, Fermina, Moorish Dancer); Anthony DeVecchi (Pedro, The Horse, The Mule); and Michael St. Paul (The Captain).

Bordman, Gerald. “American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle.” New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1978.

Eder, Richard. “Theater: Kiley Back in ‘La Mancha’” New York Times, September 16, 1977. https://www.nytimes.com/1977/09/16/archives/theater-kiley-back-in-la-mancha.html

Harmetz, Aljean. “Kiley: Again The ‘Impossible Dream.” New York Times, September 7, 1977. https://www.nytimes.com/1977/09/07/archives/kiley-again-the-impossible-dream.html?searchResultPosition=5

Internet Broadway Database. “Richard Kiley”. www.ibdb.com Accessed March 2023.

Internet Broadway Database. “Redheaded.” www.ibdb.com Accessed March 2023.

*Internet Movie Database. “Richard Kiley.” www.imdb.com Accessed March 2023.