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MAN OF LA MANCHA

MAN OF LA MANCHA

Music by Mitch Leigh/Lyrics by Joe Darion/Book by Dale Wasserman

MUSICAL THEATRE WEST

FEBRUARY 11, 2012

2012 LA OVATION AWARD

DAVIS GAINES, LEAD ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

2012 LA OVATION AWARD NOMINATION

LESLI MARGHERITA, ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

Resonant…engrossing revival.  Thrilling.  Gripping. It left this reviewer invigorated, with both eyes trained toward the unreachable stars.

    David C. Nichols, LA Times

 

Director Nick DeGruccio's stirring rendition elicits remarkably fresh performances, and the overall effort radiates more vibrancy than most "La Mancha" revivals I've seen. Musical Theatre West's enormously satisfying revival proves that in musical theater, dreams needn't be impossible.

    Les Spindle, BackStage West Critic’s Choice

 

MTW's "Man Of La Mancha" Soars To Impossible Heights!

If you want proof that Musical Theatre West is a multi-award-winning musical theater, go to the Carpenter Center. Currently on stage through Feb. 26, "Man of La Mancha" is one of the most thrilling, smash-hit productions that MTW has mounted in its 60-year history. As people filed out of this high quality production, some of them were dabbing their eyes at the uplifting, inspirational message they carried home with them. You can't afford to miss it.

    Shirle Gottlieb, Grunion Gazette

 

MTW's current revival is top of the line, creme de la creme.   Terrific staging by DeGruccio...

    Broadway World

 

Under DeGruccio's direction, the ensemble effort (that blended disparate elements like a paella) and the visuals brim with brutal verisimilitude and soar with the sort of recourse to travail that has its own adjective, quixotic. DeGruccio keenly sets up and maintains the distinction between the horrid realities of the Spanish Inquisition and literary flights of poetic fancy. He makes the various threats (be they windmills or Inquisition torture) seem real and inevitable while making the whimsical and, ultimately, delusional escapades seem possible, tutelary, and entertaining.

    Huffington Post - James Scarborough

 

You know from the striking “a cappella” flamenco dance tableau which opens Musical Theatre West’s revival of Man Of La Mancha that you’re in for something special. Then again, with multi-award winners Davis Gaines, Lesli Margherita, and Justin Robertson in the starring roles, Nick DeGruccio directing with his accustomed brilliance and imagination, and choreographic whiz Carlos Mendoza in charge of dance numbers, musical theater aficionados could expect nothing less.…brilliantly conceived and executed.

Transport MTW’s Man Of La Mancha lock, stock, and barrel to Broadway and New York audiences would applaud every bit as loudly and critics rave every bit as enthusiastically as L.A. theatergoers and reviewers will likely be doing throughout its three-week run in Long Beach.

    Steven Stanley, Stage Scene LA

 

REVIEWS:

 

Los Angeles Times Backstage Grunion Gazette 

Stage Scene LA - Broadway World LA Huffington Post 

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