Almost sixty years after its Broadway debut, McQuaid Jesuit is pleased to announce auditions for our spring musical, “Man of La Mancha”. Originally opening on Broadway in 1965 and winning five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, the 1972 film version of the show coincided with the second of five revivals, making it one of the true legends of musical theatre. This year we are pleased to reveal that our production of “Man of LA Mancha” will be submitted to Stars of Tomorrow.
As a play within a play Miguel de Cervantes, a 16th-century would be actor, soldier and author has been imprisoned with his manservant, having been charged with foreclosing on a monastery. In an effort to plead his case in a mock trial, Cervantes transforms himself into Alonso Quijana and uses his fellow prisoners as characters in the story that serves as his defense. The music in this show includes among others the title song, “Man of La Mancha”; “Aldonza”, a harshly brutal number; and perhaps the most famous song from the show, “The Impossible Dream”, which speaks to the show’s theme, the responsibility each of us has to make the world a better place than we found it.
In addition to the main characters, there are numerous smaller speaking and singing roles, and the entire cast will be on stage for much of the show. While it is best that you know the plot of the show, there is no need to prepare anything in advance as we will teach a few measures of a couple of the songs from the show as well as a brief dance sequence which will be used in the audition. For additional information regarding plot, characters and music, there are several YouTube postings which may be viewed.
Auditions will be held at 3 pm in the McQuaid auditorium on Tuesday, November 28th and Wednesday, the 29th; you need only attend one audition day. Call-backs will be held at 3 pm in the auditorium on Thursday, the 30th.
If you have questions please contact me at pstoffel@mcquaid.org, and I look forward to seeing you at auditions.
Pamela Stoffel, Artistic Director