BWW Reviews: SMT's MAN OF LA MANCHA Is Just Too Nice

By: Sep. 15, 2014
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Cherisse Martinelli, Jeff Church and Dustyn Moir in
Man of La Mancha
Photo credit: Jeff Carpenter

In order to put up the highly complex musical of "Man of La Mancha" you need more than the voices to fill the main roles. You need an ensemble who understands the text and the tone of the situation as well as a pacing to keep this intricate show moving along. Alas, that is what was missing from Seattle Musical Theatre's current production and is what hampers their show.

It's quite a complex tragedy from the start as we meet Cervantes (Jeff Church) as he is flung into prison with his squire Sancho (Dustyn Moir) awaiting their questioning by the Inquisition. But the Inquisition is not the only court in the land as Cervantes must also defend himself against the denizens of the prison in their own courtroom. In order to convey his story Cervantes and Sancho perform a play. They involve the other prisoners to tell the tale of Don Quixote as they relate it to Cervantes' own tales of persecution. And so we follow Don Quixote as he ventures through his own madness including his love for the kitchen wench Aldonza whom he only refers to as his love, the Lady Dulcinea.

It can be quite a beautiful love story provided the stakes involved are clear enough and that's where director Rick Wright has fallen short. The pacing of the show is far too slow and plodding with huge pauses that sap the energy from the story. Plus the tone of this gritty world is far too nice and clean in this production lacking the danger of the situation. It did finally pick up the tone and energy during Aldonza's rape scene but by then it was too late.

The ensemble puts in a valiant effort but many of them look as though they're quite tentative and uncomfortable. There are some notable exceptions such as David Caldwell as the Padre and Brian Pucheu as Carrasco who both showed quite a bit of presence and commitment to their roles in addition to some wonderful voices. Church has a great voice for the role of Cervantes but needs to tighten up his pacing quite a bit and give more levels to this most complex of characters. Similarly Cherisse Martinelli has a wonderful voice and fits the role of Dulcinea but lacked the weary grittiness of the part of Aldonza. Moir was probably the more engaging of the leads with a very clear and rich voice and fun and committed character. Not the usual Sancho we've come to expect but a nice alternative.

But then that's a word that is all too present in this production, nice. The ensemble have the voices to sing the show but not always the gravitas to sell the story making it just too nice and this show should never be nice. And for those reasons, with my three letter rating system, I give this a MEH. To steal a line from another show, not good, not bad, just nice.

"Man of La Mancha" performs at Seattle Musical Theatre through September 28th. For tickets or information visit them online at www.seattlemusicaltheatre.org.



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