Abusical the Musical

Man of La Mancha abuses, loses its audience

By AMANDA VANDE BRAKE
Thursday, March 30, 2006 - 3:00 pm
Eighteen hours after leaving Rude Guerrilla’s new theater space (next door to their old space in Santa Ana’s Artists
Village)—and its new production, Man of La Mancha—I’m still not sure what it’s all about.

There’s this guy, Don Miguel de Cervantes (Jonathan Talmadge), who is the
fictional representation of the guy who wrote Don Quixote. Cervantes is being
held in prison, along with his sidekick Sancho (Cliff Peddicord), awaiting
sentencing for presenting entertainment offensive to the Spanish Inquisition. To
take his attention off his impending doom and build a case among his fellow
prisoners for his outstanding character (in order to save his belongings from
being destroyed), Cervantes initiates an enactment of the story of his
likably nutty Don Quixote, inviting his fellow prisoners to join in the fun.

Even with an impromptu mid-first-act intermission that had technicians
scrambling to get the new space’s light board up and running again, it’s all
lighthearted fun and games. Until the gang rape scene, complete with (limp)
full-frontal male nudity. Call me a closet prude, but I’m still unsure how this
five-minute, graphically violent scene in which Aldonza is raped by a number of
unsavory characters is anything other than gratuitous and unforgivably
distracting.

I get that Cervantes is on trial for presenting offensive entertainment and
that this scene is about as offensive as it gets. I also get that knowing
that the woman Quixote yearns for (played by Melinda Messenger) can never truly
escape her sordid and whorish past is an integral element of the story. But I’
m unwilling to accept that these narrative demands give anyone license to
turn Man of La Mancha into Abusical the Musical, alienating its audience to
such an extent that even the most rousing chorus of “The Impossible Dream” can’
t make things right.

If he hadn’t fixated on finding 10 different ways to violate a woman,
director Robert M. Tully might have noticed—and addressed—the fact that, while his
cast is more than musically competent, their musical performances come off
as costumed concerts, blankly directed at the back wall. Messenger, delivering
a remarkably strong performance as Aldonza; Talmadge as Cervantes/Quixote;
and Peddicord as Sancho are the exceptions, though their performances could be
amazing with attentive direction.

This is generally a dedicated cast; but, sadly, one of the main reasons to
check out Rude Guerrilla’s Man of La Mancha is to see their new theater space—
one I hope will host something less offensive soon.

MAN OF LA MANCHA AT RUDE GUERRILLA THEATRE COMPANY, 202 N. BROADWAY, SANTA
ANA, (714) 547-4688. FRI.-SAT., 8 P.M.; SUN., 2:30 P.M. THROUGH APRIL 15.
$10-$27
Friday, March 31, 2006
Theater: 'Man of La Mancha'
Review: Rude Guerrilla's no-frills staging preserves the essence of the hit 1965 Dale Wasserman musical.

By ERIC MARCHESE
Special to the Register

As one of the last hit Broadway musicals of the Golden Age, "Man of La Mancha" has flourished for several decades. In frequent revivals, the show is typically painted on a large canvas, with lavish production values, orchestral accompaniment, a sizable supporting cast and, frequently, celebrities in the lead roles.

It's nice to report, then, that the 1965 work can do equally well in a no-frills staging such as that delivered by Rude Guerrilla Theater Company, the troupe's first musical in its nine-year history.

As it unfolds in a new space adjacent to (and as intimate as) the troupe's longstanding home, Rude G's production puts the emphasis on Dale Wasserman's script, story and characters, Joe Darion and Mitch Leigh's songs and Robert M. Tully's cast. In the wrong hands, such a stripped-down staging could spell disaster - but in this case, it preserves the purity of the material.

Aiding in Tully's approach is the script's masterful structure, a play-within-a-play that makes "Man of La Mancha" an homage to the process of storytelling. Wasserman not only depicts Spanish novelist and playwright Miguel de Cervantes' tragicomic hero, Don Quixote, but Cervantes himself. Imprisoned and awaiting trial by the Inquisition, Cervantes entertains his fellow prisoners with his tales of frail, elderly Alonso Quijana, who appoints himself a knight errant named Quixote and sets off on a series of misadventures.

Like Cervantes' 1605 novel, the script, based on Wasserman's 1959 television play "I, Don Quixote," has a lightly comic tone with an underlying humanistic message. Cervantes makes a definite distinction between two classes, not of economic means but of intellect - those of learning, those with none - and his tale is a glorious salute to the power of ideas.

Musical director and assistant director Melinda Messenger, who also plays Aldonza, uses two onstage guitarists, Andres Cartagena and Taha Yazdandoust, which creates a distinctively Spanish flavor for the songs. Whether the cast sings to guitar music or a capella, our focus is on the songs and their inherent beauty. Good examples are "To Each His Dulcinea," a soft, tender ballad given fine voice by Norman Wilson as the Padre, and the chorus' closing rendition of "The Impossible Dream," which starts off slowly and quietly before building to a powerful conclusion.

One scene gets the trademark Rude Guerilla treatment: Aldonza's attack by the muleteers. Typically stylized to make it palatable for crowds of all ages, its unflinching treatment here progresses from vicious beating to rape to sodomy. Some might deem the approach distasteful and unfitting for a musical, yet there's no denying the potency of its hard-edged realism.

Jonathan Talmadge embodies noble heroism in the triple role of Cervantes, Quijana and Quixote. Talmadge's Cervantes is a quiet spirit disillusioned with life, an idealist aware of the pain the world can inflict, with his singing of the title number a gesture of defiance. His Quijana is a gentle, befuddled old guy, while his Quixote is a gentle innocent unsullied by a world rife with selfishness, greed and corruption, in his bliss whenever confronting injustice.

Cliff Peddicord's Sancho Panza is a heavyset comic foil for Talmadge, long-suffering yet patient with his master's quests of folly. Peddicord is likable, bringing sly energy and a slight Spanish accent, a nice touch that adds comic flavor to his portrayal. He also provides light guitar accompaniment on a couple of numbers, another nice touch.

The tall, imposing Messenger makes a formidable Aldonza, with a hard edge, strong will and unshakable cynicism. Still, Messenger shows us how Quixote's kindness puzzles and confuses Aldonza, causing her to gradually let down her guard, and she brings longing and pain to the song "Dulcinea," Quixote's idealistic tribute to her.

Justin Radford's cool, logical Dr. Carrasco is a distant observer of the fanciful world inhabited by Alonso, his future uncle by marriage. Edward G. Bangasser is a fierce, sadistic Pedro, the muleteer who regards Aldonza as his property. Tully's chorus numbers just seven, but they're a versatile bunch, singing, dancing and roughhousing while flowing into and out of a variety of characters.

Michael Lopez's choreography, assisted by Bangasser, dovetails with the action of the songs, with Bangasser's fight scenes coming off well even in tight quarters. The set design (Dawn Hess), costumes (Kathleen Hotmer) and lighting (Jeremy Ojeda) also mesh well with Tully's vision.
Man Of La Mancha
March 30, 2006
By Les Spindle

Talk about strange bedfellows: The envelope-pushing Rude Guerrilla Theater Company tackles a classic 1965 musical. Though this uncommonly literate tuner incorporates dark psychological themes, it was hard to imagine a popular Broadway commodity staged in Guerrilla's tiny black box space, particularly when one considers the company's long-standing devotion to shock-and-awe fare. At fleeting moments, the peculiar gambit proves effective. The fatal flaw is a gratuitous treatment of the rape-of-Aldonza sequence, a low point from which the production never recovers.

Inspired by Miguel de Cervantes' seriocomic 1615 Spanish-language novel, Don Quixote de la Mancha, Dale Wasserman's book turns classical romantic drama on its ear. The ugly realities of life register as poetic beauty in the deranged mind of Alonso Quijana, a man who imagines himself as a noble traveling knight, Quixote. The show-within-a-show begins in a dungeon, where writer Cervantes and his squire, Sancho Panza, are imprisoned awaiting a trial on charges of tax evasion.

The splendid Mitch Leigh-Joe Darion score is sadly compromised here. Taha Yazdandoust and Andres Cartagena provide pleasant but modest dual-guitar accompaniment, and the singing ranges from inept to serviceable. Rather than a gloriously melodic evening with an operatic sweep, we get an eccentric chamber musical. In the challenging title role, resourceful actor-singer Jonathan Talmadge fares best, capturing the role's multilayered ironies: the duality of the Cervantes-Quixote connection, and the schizophrenic nature of Alonso-Quixote. As the fiery and embittered prostitute Aldonza, a miscast Melinda Messenger makes a heroic effort. Cliff Peddicord amuses as Quixote's loyal sidekick Sancho.

Director Robert M. Tully emphasizes the squalor of the milieu, aided by Jeremy "Bug" Ojeda's atmospheric lighting. An edgy tone predominates from the outset, as the prisoners engage in raunchy, reckless horseplay from the time the audience enters the house. Using excessive grit and grime, Tully sacrifices Quixote's ideals of hope and beauty. Life's redemptive possibilities, described in "The Impossible Dream," never come into focus. The harrowing and protracted rape scene is an ill-advised ploy to shoehorn what might be coined "Rude Guerrilla tactics"-no-holds-barred shock value-onto material not suited to it. In the end, the real rape victims are the eloquent book and score.

Presented by Rude Guerrilla Theater Company at the Empire Theater, 200 N. Broadway, Santa Ana. Fri.-Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2:30 p.m. (Also Thu. 8 p.m. Apr. 6 & 13.) Mar. 24-Apr. 15. (714) 547-4688
LA TIMES

March 31, 2006

THEATER BEAT
An uneven 'Man of La Mancha'

Rude Guerrilla Theater Company christens its new venue with a flamenco-flavored revision of "Man of La Mancha," the company's first musical. In taking on Dale Wasserman, Joe Darion and Mitch Leigh's Tony-winning adaptation of Miguel de Cervantes, the provocative Santa Ana troupe produces results both impressive and frustrating.

Designer Dawn Hess provides a detailed Spanish Inquisition prison setting, beautifully lighted by Jeremy Ojeda. We enter while a prologue accompanied by invaluable guitarists Andres Cartagena and Taha Yazdandoust is underway, the ensemble as resourceful as Kathleen Hotmer's costume design is inventive.

Cervantes (Jonathon Talmadge) arrives with his servant (Cliff Peddicord) and is greeted by a kangaroo court of fellow prisoners, to whom he proposes an enactment of his "Don Quixote" before he faces the Grand Inquisitor upstairs.

Director Robert M. Tully, choreographer Michael Lopez and company do yeoman work. Quixote's niece (Trina Mendiola), housekeeper (Jessica Woodard), priest (Norman Wilson) and nemesis (Justin Radford) make "I'm Only Thinking of Him" a tickling standout. As harlot Aldonza, musical director Melinda Messenger is fierce ? Faith Prince meets Joan Allen.

However, the intimate concept has not located the property's duality. The requisite sense of overarching tyrannical menace comes and goes, while the division between reality and charade is fuzzy. The choral sound at the finale is gorgeous, but its jazz harmonies emerge from nowhere, and the intermission inserted after the explicitly graphic rape of Aldonza is ill advised.

Talmadge, vocally decent and sincere, proves less stirring than sturdy as Cervantes and far too rational as Quixote. Peddicord offers surface shtick and an inexplicable Italian accent. They typify the imbalance of a noteworthy but problematic effort.

David C. Nichols