LAKEWOOD THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS September 10 - October 17, 2004 "The Impossible Dream," one of the great songs of the American musical theatre, will lift the hearts of audiences with its message of courage and the search for truth as Lakewood Theatre Company begins its 52nd season on Friday September 10, 2004 with the award-winning musical, Man of La Mancha. The production sponsor for Man of La Mancha is Bank of America. Performances continue through October 17, 2004 on the Headlee Mainstage at Lakewood Center for the Arts, 368 S. State Street in Lake Oswego Thurs-Saturday at 8:00 PM and Sundays at 7:00 PM. There will also be three Sunday matinees Sept 19, Oct 3 and Oct 10 at 2:00 PM. Ticket prices are $27 for adults and $25 for students and seniors and are available through the Lakewood Theatre Box Office at (503) 635-3901 or on this website. Cast & Crew Bios Leif Norby as Don Quixote and Ernie Casciato as his man servant, Sancho Panza in Man of La Mancha at Lakewood Theatre Company, September 10 -October 17, 2004. Photo by Lake Oswego Photographers. The captivating story of an inspired knight following his quest is directed by Greg Tamblyn and musical direction is by Alan D. Lytle. The production features prominent Portland area musical theatre actors Leif Norby in the dual role of Cervantes and Don Quixote, Ernie Casciato as Sancho Panza his faithful manservant and Pam Mahon, as Aldonza, the sluttish tavern maid.  Man of La Mancha, the 1965 award-winning musical written by Dale Wasserman, is based on the life and work of Don Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra. Music is by Mitch Leigh and lyrics are by Joe Darion.  Its song hits, "The Impossible Dream," "Dulcinea," "Little Bird" and "The Quest" have become musical classics. The original production ran more than five years on Broadway and received five Tony Awards including "Best Musical of the Year," as well as "Best Musical" by the New York Drama Critics' Circle, The Outer Circle, The Variety Poll and Saturday Review. The Story: Man of La Mancha, takes place in the late 16th Century in a prison deep beneath the streets of Seville.  Into a group of rogues awaiting sentencing by the Spanish Inquisition for various crimes and misdemeanors, is thrown an itinerant poet, failed playwright, wounded soldier and unfortunate tax collector, Miguel de Cervantes (Leif Norby), and his trusted servant, Sancho Panza (Ernie Casciato). To avoid immediate sentencing before a kangaroo court by his fellow prisoners -- and to save his latest manuscript from being thrown into a fire -- Cervantes proposes he present his defense in the form of a charade to illustrate the adventures of a most famous and legendary hero. While Sancho sets the stage using items from a prop trunk and items strewn about the prison, Cervantes transforms himself before our eyes into a country squire known as Alonso Quijana -- a man so enamored of ancient stories of chivalry and derring-do that he sheds his cloak of sanity and dons a suit of armor to become "a dauntless knight known as Don Quixote de La Mancha!"  He coaxes his fellow prisoners into playing the roles of an innkeeper (Jim Caputo) and his wife (Susan Overcast), a kindly country priest (Ron Harman), and a slatternly kitchen wench named Aldonza (Pam Mahon), whom Quixote imagines to be the "fair virgin" Dulcinea - symbol of goodness and purity. Others in the cast include Corey Brunish as the Duke, Gary Norman as the Barber and Courtney Freed as Antonio. David Sherwood, Gary Norman, Ryan Burghard, Marshall Murray, David Cole, Scott Moss, and Bruce Lawson play the muleteers. Please note: Man of La Mancha plays without intermission. Running time is approximately 2 hours. Some subject matter may not be suitable for pre-teen audiences. Stage Direction for LTC's production of Man of La Mancha is by Greg Tamblyn and musical direction is by Alan D. Lytle. The stage design is by Glenn Gauer, associate musical direction is by Kristi Foster, lighting design is by Kurt Herman, properties are by Felix Kelsey and Sandy Shaner, costume design is by Margaret Louise Chapman, the stage manager is Felix Kelsey and the assistant stage manager is Kendra Comerford. Sound design for Man of La Mancha is by Dan Hallberg and the producer is Kay Vega. History of the Play: Man of LaMancha premiered at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, CT, and opened on Broadway on November 22, 1965, where it played for 2,328 performances (exceeding the runs of "South Pacific" and "The Sound of Music") and made a star of Richard Kiley.  The production won five Tony Awards that season including "Best Musical of the Year," and was made into a film in 1972 starring Sophia Loren and Peter O'Toole.  It was revived on Broadway with Kiley reprising his role (in 1972 and 1977), and again in 1992 starring the late Raul Julia and pop singer Sheena Easton.  The most recent New York revival in 2002 starred Brian Stokes Mitchell and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. About the Authors: Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra (1547-1616) (novelist) hailed from a proud but impoverished Hidalgo family and lived in the waning days of the Golden Age of the Spanish Empire.  He was a soldier, suffered serious wounds at the battle of Lepanto (a key naval battle in which the forces of Christendom defeated the forces of Islam in 1571), was taken captive and spent five years as a slave in Africa.  Author of some forty plays (all failures), Cervantes was excommunicated in 1597 for "offenses against His Majesty's Most Catholic Church" and imprisoned off and on for various offenses.  He published Volume I of "Don Quixote" in 1605 and Volume II ten years later - insuring his immortality as author of the world's first (and many maintain greatest) novel. Cervantes died in 1616 within 10 days of the death of his playwrighting contemporary, William Shakespeare.  In the 400 years since its publication over 200 adaptations of "Don Quixote" have been made - operas, plays, films, ballets, television shows, and (most successfully) a Broadway musical. Dale Wasserman (1917- ) (playwright) based his script for the musical Man of LaMancha on his 1960 TV drama called "I, Don Quixote."  Mr. Wasserman had previously written another musical, Livin' the Life, an adaptation of Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn," which played off-Broadway in 1957.  An accomplished dramatist as well, he also wrote One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which had an unsuccessful Broadway premiere in 1963, but was later adapted into an Academy Award-winning film starring Jack Nicholson and finally won the Tony Award in 2001 for a Broadway revival by Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater Company starring Gary Sinise. Joe Darion (1911-2001) (lyricist) supplied the book and lyrics to the opera Archy and Mehitabel, which was turned into the Broadway musical Shinbone Alley.  Winner of the Tony Award for his work on Man of La Mancha, Mr. Darion also contributed lyrics to the 1967 musical Illya, Darling, based on the film "Never on Sunday," and the opera Galileo Galilei.  He remains best know as the writer of the words to "The Impossible Dream," one of the most-performed inspirational ballads of all time. Mitch Leigh (1928- ) (composer) achieved his greatest success with his very first Broadway musical, Man of La Mancha, however he also composed the subsequent musicals Chu Chem (1966), Home Sweet Homer (1976) and Ain't Broadway Grand (1993).  He was the recipient of the "Contemporary Classic" award of the Songwriter's Hall off Fame in 1973 for "The Impossible Dream."