MAN OF LA MANCHA Comes to Musical Theatre West This Valentine's Day

Southern California's premier theatre company, Musical Theatre West will open its 2026 season with the bold, moving, and visually striking musical: "Man of La Mancha.” Opening Valentine's Day Weekend and running select nights from February 13 through March 1 at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center, the production invites audiences into a world where imagination becomes a lifeline and courage transforms even the harshest realities.

Man of La Mancha unfolds as a story within a story, following Miguel de Cervantes as he invites a community of prisoners to help him bring his tale to life. What begins as a stark, stripped-down world transforms through imagination, humor, and shared belief, as the characters become co-creators in Don Quixote's quest to see the world not as it is, but as it could be. Blending whimsy with emotional depth, the production celebrates resilience, dignity, and the power of storytelling to set us free. By the final moments, audiences will be left to wonder whether Don Quixote was mad…or simply brave enough to dream out loud.