Arizona Broadway Theatre Launches 13th Season with MAN OF LA MANCHA

Arizona Broadway Theatre's thirteenth season as the Valley's leading producer of musical theatre begins on October 13 with the acclaimed Broadway hit Man of La Mancha, which will run through November 11.

"Our patrons have been requesting several of this season's shows for some time now," said Kiel Klaphake, founder and Executive Director. "ABT is known for incredible professional productions, and this year we bring some of Broadway's biggest hits from multiple decades to audiences in the Valley. Featuring our most requested shows - including South Pacific and Show Boat, and the contemporary classics The Bridges of Madison County, Mary Poppins, Catch Me If You Can, and Altar Boyz - this season really will have something for everyone, and we're excited to start the season off with the powerful and stirring Man of La Mancha."

About Man of La Mancha

Man of La Mancha is the story of one man's quest to dream "The Impossible Dream" of a world where honor and salvation prevail. Based on The Adventures of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra, Man of La Mancha is a comic tragedy of mankind's struggle to better both himself and the world in which he lives. In this soaring musical by Dale Wasserman, Cervantes and his servant, Sancho, are cast into prison by the Spanish Inquisition. In order to win his personal effects back from the thieves and robbers in the prison, Cervantes enlists the inmates' assistance in telling the tale of this "Knight of the Woeful Countenance" who tilts at windmills and champions lost causes.

This production also features the only adjustments to the 1964 original sanctioned by Martha Wasserman, wife of late playwright Dale Wasserman.

About the Cast

James Rio is a familiar face to many in the Valley of the Sun. He has been Scrooge in ABT's production of A Christmas Carol the Musical for the past two seasons, both on the ABT Mainstage and, in 2016 and again this holiday season, on Center Stage at Herberger Theater Center. A native of New England, he has appeared at ABT as Horace Vandergelder (Hello, Dolly!), Man in Chair (The Drowsy Chaperone), Saunders (Lend Me a Tenor), Carriere (Phantom), John Utterson (Jekyll & Hyde), and Lt. Schrank in West Side Story. Other non-ABT credits include The Baker (Into the Woods), Ernst (Cabaret), and Georg (She Loves Me) as well as appearing in Europe in The Phantom of the Opera in Hamburg, Germany, and concerts in Rome, Lisbon, Madrid, Moscow, St. Petersburg and Minsk. James has also directed several shows at ABT including Les Misérables, The Sound of Music, Into the Woods (BroadwayWorld.com - Best Director), The Odd Couple and Miracle on 34th Street.

Andy Meyers is another familiar face, having been in thirty ABT productions. Andy was most recently seen as Mr. Bumble this summer in Oliver! His roles include Season 12's Jean Shepherd/Narrator (A Christmas Story) and King Herod (Jesus Christ Superstar), as well as previous seasons' Oscar (Sweet Charity), Mr. Enoch Snow (Carousel), Uncle Max (The Sound of Music), and Ernst (Cabaret). He has appeared in the national tours of Annie and Bus Stop, and played Dick in the 35th Anniversary NYC revival of Dames at Sea. He was Arizona Broadway Theatre's Director for Oliver!, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, The King and I, The Secret Garden, The Winter Wonderettes, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Annie, as well as Choreographer for Les Misérables. Currently Artistic Director of Fort Peck Summer Theatre in Montana, he was previously Managing Director for Performing Arts at Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island, New York. Andy is a graduate of Wagner College in NY and holds his Masters in Music from University of Montana.

Jessica Medoff will make her Arizona Broadway Theatre debut as Aldonza/Dulcinea. Jessica recently portrayed Mayor/Ma Fred (The Toxic Avenger Musical, Farmers Alley Theater), Desirée (A Little Night Music, The Princeton Festival), Mayzie (Seussical: The Musical), and Heidi ( "[Title of Show]" ) at Roxy Theater. She originated the roles of Paula Strasberg, Louella Parsons, and Jackie Kennedy in the world premiere of Marilee and Baby Lamb: The Assassination of an American Goddess at Rio Grande Theatre and starred in a new film, The Heart Outright.

Other returning cast members include Geoff Belliston (Hands on a Hardbody, Oliver!, Jesus Christ Superstar, A Christmas Carol), Michael O'Brien (A Christmas Carol, Carousel, Les Mis), Nicholas Hurm (Hands on a Hardbody, Jesus Christ Superstar), Eddie Maldonado (Hands on a Hardbody, Beauty and the Beast, Jesus Christ Superstar), Chaz Ingraham (Jesus Christ Superstar), and Meggie Siegrist (Oliver!, Jesus Christ Superstar, A Christmas Story).