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Dream the Impossible Dream
at the Clarence Brown Theatre!
Grab a bowl for a helmet, alert your sidekick and saddle up dreamers. The
iconic American musical ³Man of La Mancha² by Mitch Leigh, Joe Darion and
Dale Wasserman rides into the Clarence Brown Theatre on April 15. Sponsored
by Schaad Companies and Pilot Travel Centers, the production features a
grand and stunning set, more than 50 costumes, a cast of 34 professional,
undergraduate and graduate actors, and a 16-piece orchestra.
³Man of La Mancha² inspires us to cling to our ideals, to fight for
tolerance and justice in the world, no matter how hard the going may get, no
matter how insurmountable the obstacles confronting us may seem,² said
director Paul Barnes. ³It also reminds us of the power of the imagination
in the way in which the story is told, and in Cervantesı message of hope,
daring, and optimism: that even in the most dangerous, confined and
hopeless-seeming circumstances, we still have the power of our imagination
to help us cope with and overcome whatever obstacles with which we are
faced.²
In this five-time Tony Award-winning musical, Miguel de Cervantes, aging and
a failure as playwright, poet and tax collector, has been thrown into a
dungeon in Seville to await trial by the Inquisition for an offense against
the Church. There he is dragged before a kangaroo court of his fellow
prisoners. Cervantes proposes his defense in the form of a play. The
³court² agrees and Cervantes and his manservant don make-up and costumes,
transforming themselves into the ³mad² knight, Don Quixote, and his
sidekick, Sancho Panza. They then play out the story with the prisoners
taking the roles of other characters. The musical is best known for its
signature song, ³The Impossible Dream.²
³Itıs easy to overlook the time period during which La Mancha was brought to
the stage, and the subject matter which led to the song itself. Produced
during the Vietnam War, close on the heels of the Civil Rights movement,
there were any number of deferred dreams that seemed at the time impossible
to achieve and almost entirely out of reach for thousands and thousands of
people struggling to live in a free country. Wasserman
and Leighıs treatment of the centuries-old material of Miguel de Cervantesıs
novel, ³Don Quixote,² was fresh, relevant, and thought-provoking then, and
remains so today,² Barnes said.
Cervantes composed his original novel with tongue-in-cheek satire and double
entendre-filled style to avoid censure--or worse--during the Spanish
Inquisition. In seeming to poke fun at the adventure-filled ³knight-errant²
heroic writing of the day, he cloaked his criticism of the religious and
political intolerance he observed and about which he wanted to speak out
against. Interestingly, one of the many techniques employed to elicit
confessions from accused heretics was water boarding.
³Again, it doesnıt take much time to scratch beneath the surface of the
musical to discover its immediacy nearly 50 years after its Broadway debut,²
Barnes said.
Paul Barnes returns to the Clarence Brown Theatre after an absence of two
years. Previous CBT productions include ³A Child's Christmas in Wales,²
³Romeo and Juliet,² ³All The Way Home,² and ³Major Barbara.² He has directed
productions in regional theaters all across the country. He is producing
director of the Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona, Minnesota, where
his credits include productions of ³A Midsummer Night's Dream,² ³Much Ado
About Nothing,² ³Romeo and Juliet,² ³As You Like It,² and more. He makes his
home in Ashland, Oregon.
Musical Director Terry Silver Alford is a member of the UT Theater faculty.
He has musically directed more than 100 productions in theaters across the
country and created scores for four original musicals and a variety of
chamber and vocal music pieces. He most recently musically directed ³The
Whoıs Tommy² at the CBT. He earned his masterıs degree in directing from UT
and his masterıs degree in music from Western Michigan University. He will
be directing a 16-piece orchestra in this production.
³The orchestration for ³Man of La Mancha² was rather unique to Broadway at
the time. Instead of a full orchestra, it focused on brass, guitar,
percussion, and woodwind instruments to create a more authentic Spanish
sound. We will be using the same orchestration. One of the largest
orchestras weıve had in the CBT in the past several years, it is a
combination of professional musicians and UT School of Music students. And,
a brand new sound system will make the sound truly and finally
state-of-the-art,² Alford said.
The cast will be made up of professional, community, and UT graduate and
undergraduate actors. Performing the role of Don Quixote, David Kortemeier
is an artist in residence at the CBT and a member of the UT Theater acting
faculty and has performed in several productions. Most recently, he was
seen as Creon in ³Oedipus the King.² He has performed in regional theatres
across the country and has a masterıs degree in acting from the University
of Louisville. In his third year at the CBT, guest artist Neil Friedman
will play Sancho Panza. A recipient of Chicagoıs prestigious Joseph
Jefferson Award, he has performed in several Chicago theatres. He also has
performed in regional theatres across the country. Most recently, he
performed in the CBTıs ³A Christmas Carol.² Performing the roles of
Aldonza/Dulcinea, Katy Wolfe Zahn is UT Theaterıs voice teacher and has been
seen locally in both opera and musical theater. Most recently, she was seen
at the CBT in ³The Whoıs Tommy.² She performs with the Knoxville Symphony,
Oak Ridge Symphony and Symphony of the Mountains. She has degrees from
Belmont University and UT.
Community actors performing in this production are Steve Fitchpatrick and
Curtis Pettyjohn. UT Theatre graduate students are: Matthew Charles Russell
Badham, Matt Bassett, Morganne Davies, Amelia Mathews, Michael Moreno,
Jessica Ripton, Matthew Ventura, and Jonathan Visser, UT undergraduate
students are: Tina Arfaee, Seth Crowe, Rebecca Haden, Ted Kitterman, Josh,
Garon, James Maguire, Patrick Kimberlin, Austin Land, Chip Morris, Dana
Parks, Billy Kyle Roach, Andy Rogers, Mark Gregory Rudy, Samantha Huskey,
Calvin Smith, Danny Sierra, Ryan Stem, Chris Stokley, Samantha Strader,
Katlyn Whittenburg, and Brady Seymore.
Members of the orchestra are: Micah Layne, Angelique Postic, Bonnie Farr,
Rachel Morey, TJ Perry, George Carpten, Tom Lundberg, Jeff Mize (sub), Brian
Jennings, Calvin Smith, Mitzi Hall (sub), Robert Owen, David Peeples, David
Slack (sub), Chad Volkers, Harold Nagge (sub), Jonathan Mannes, Burt Elmore
(sub), Jay Miller, David Knight, and Hunter Deacon.
Designers include: Christopher Pickart as scenic designer; Bill Black as
costume designer; Jenn Trippe as lighting designer; and visiting guest
artist Curtis Craig as sound designer. Serving as choreographer and fight
director are Casey Sams and John Sipes respectively.
Preview for the show is April 15. Opening night is April 16. The show runs
through May 2. Evening performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Matinees begin at 2
p.m. Ticket prices range from $5 to $33. For tickets, call the Clarence
Brown Theatre box office at 865-974-5161, Tickets Unlimited at 865-656-4444
or online at www.clarencebrowntheatre.com.
###
Photo Caption: Katy Wolfe Zahn, David Kortemeier and Neil Friedman in "Man
of La Mancha"
Who: Clarence Brown Theatre
What: Man of La Mancha
When: April 15, 2010 May 2, 2010
Where: Clarence Brown Mainstage
Tickets: Preview: Adult $20, UT Fac/StaffBOGO $17, Seniors $17, Students
$12, UT Students Free with ID
Opening: Adults $33, Students $20, UT Students $10 with ID
Wed/Thursday: Adults $22, UT Fac/StaffBOGO $19 Seniors $19, Students $12,
UT Students $5 with ID
Weekends: Adults $27, UT Fac/Staff-BOGO $22, Seniors $22, Students $15, UT
Students $5 with ID
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