There's a rumor going around that Dale Wasserman's widow is looking for a chance for MAN OF LA MANCHA to return to Broadway since the musical turned 50. Good grief, I like the show just fine but can't we have a revival of CAMELOT first before that show get's revived? If we do get a revival, could we have James Barbour as Don Quixote please?
BTW: I found a video of Ron Raines playing Don Quixote and his vocals were so strong that I think that Richard Kiley himself would've approved of.
Camelot.....that is one show I've never seen. In the scores of Broadway shows I've seen in my 50 years, no less. That's almost sacrilege. I would love to see that revived again. Regarding MOLM though, I'll have to take a look at Raines. I read that Kiley once said it was hard for him to see others play the role, as good as so many of them were. That role was like his baby.
The widow Wasserman saw the extraordinary DC Shakespeare Theatre production starring Warlow and it supposedly inspired her to consider a 50th anniversary production of her own devising with "stars". A smart producer would grab that production lock, stock and barrel but the widow is so difficult that no one wants to get in bed with her. Since Mitch Leigh died last year she now has all of the power but little taste or know-how.
I saw the amazing Shakespeare Theatre production and thought it's better than a lot of the shows that got to broadway. I don't know how would they define "stars" but Anthony Warlow has proven himself perfect in this role. Why look elsewhere? Well, they may think he's not a box office attraction here like he is in Australia, but I can't think of a broadway veteran who really is nowadays.
Why not Josh Grobin? He can sing the hell out of the score and put behinds in seats. On his new CD, Stages, he sings a beautiful rendition of Dulcinea, from Man of La Mancha. The whole album is beautiful, imho.
It always peeved me that Jack Jones' torpid recording of "The Impossible Dream" became a hit record while the splendor of the late Richard Kiley was heard by few.