Mauricio Martinez has performed the anthem “The Impossible Dream” countless times over the years, but as he prepares to sing it again while playing the title role in Asolo Repertory Theater’s “Man of La Mancha,” he realizes that he’ll never sing quite the same way.
“Now I really know what it means. Once you actually live it, you realize why each word is there,” he said during a recent Zoom chat with director Peter Rothstein (the theater’s new artistic director) and fellow actors Aaron De Jesus as Sancho Panza and Janely Rodriguez as Aldonza .
In the musical that concludes the season of Asolo Rep, Martinez plays Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, who is being held in a modern prison or detention center along with a friend and colleague. (The original production set the story during the Spanish Inquisition.)
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Fellow inmates want possession of Cervantes and stage a mock trial in which he is confronted with fabricated accusations that he is an idealist and a bad poet. In his defence, Cervantes recruits the other prisoners to become characters in his story about a man who has spent so much time reading about knights and chivalrous exploits that he now fancies himself as one – Don Quixote de la Mancha who is assisted by his faithful servant Sancho.
Martinez, who grew up in Mexico and started his career before moving to the United States about six years ago, said the story is “part of our culture. Cervantes is like the Spaniard’s Shakespeare. Don Quixote is a textbook for us. I first read it in fourth or fifth grade.”
De Jesus said one of the struggles addressed on the show is “the difference in seeing life as it is versus what it could or should be. We have learned that we have to find the balance in each and every life. Some people err on the side of reality and some on fantasy or hope. Everyone has problems and when you spend too much time wallowing in life’s difficulties, life seems less livable. When we find too much negative it becomes more difficult, so we always try to see the glass half full.”
Rediscovery of the “impossible dream”
Commenting on “The Impossible Dream,” Rothstein said, “The point of the song is the impossible, not the dream. We have to work towards things we know we won’t achieve in our lifetimes, like world peace or global warming. We hope they are things that our children will achieve. We have to reach for the big dreams.”
Don Quixote works to right wrongs. He sees the world as it could be rather than as it is. He sings of his quest “to follow that star, no matter how hopeless, no matter how far; To fight for the right without question or pause. To be willing to march to hell for a heavenly cause.”
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Rodriguez said that even without the more contemporary setting, the show addresses issues that make headlines today, such as racism, anti-Semitism and laws aimed at restricting transgender people’s rights and drag queens’ performing opportunities.
“People can identify as what they want, and other people will oppose it,” Rodriguez said. “People thought Don Quixote was crazy, and it’s always the same. Change the title and it could be trans, black, immigrant, jewish. We would have the same war and violence instead of acceptance and empathy, something that uplifts your spirit.”
New producing artistic director
Man of La Mancha is Rothstein’s third production for Asolo Rep, following Ragtime and Sweeney Todd. But this comes as he is about to take up his new position as producing artistic director at the Theater of Sarasota, succeeding Michael Donald Edwards, who is stepping down next month after 18 years. Rothstein was the founding director of the Theater Latte Da in Minneapolis, which he has directed since 1998.
He gets a taste of what life is going to be like as he runs the theater and directs shows, holds meetings between rehearsals “and kind of gets his job done. But I wasn’t on the beach like I used to be.” He and Edwards announced Asolo Rep’s next season in March.
Inspired by the Cervantes novel, Man of La Mancha was written by Dale Wasserman, with music by Mitch Leigh and lyrics by Joe Darion. It opened on Broadway in 1965, where it won five Tony Awards (beating “Mame” and “Sweet Charity”) and ran more than 2,300 performances for nearly six years before opening to countless other productions around the world.
“Man of La Mancha”
Book by Dale Wasserman, music by Mitch Leigh, lyrics by Joe Darion. Directed by Peter Rothstein, choreographed by Cat Brindisi. May 10-June 11, Asolo Repertory Theater, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Tickets range from $35 to $98. 941-351-8000; asolorep.org
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