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Decent Quality Since 1847

Der Man Aus La Mancha

5/3/2014

2 Comments

 
This is one of those videos that deserves the title of special.  And long.  And it's most certainly not for everybody, thought that those for who it is, it's a Yipes!  And I'll give a few signposts so that others just jump through it to certain highlights.

It's Man of La Mancha, performed in Brusselles in 1998.  No, not highlights or the songs -- but the whole freaking thing!
  It goes by the name L’Homme de La Mancha (which is the title of the show when done in France, translated by Jacques Brel), but as you'll see, it also goes under the name Der Man Aus La Mancha.

Lest you be horrified of watching an entire foreign production of a musical, know that many years ago when I was in Holland on an American Youth Hostel bike trip of Europe, I saw that the national Dutch company was doing this same Man of La Mancha
in a nearby city, and I bicycled over.  (It will not shock you to learn that I couldn't convince any others to join me.)  It went by the title of Der Man Von La Mancha -- I still have the program.  And it was wonderful.  I'd seen the show a couple times before, so I had a good enough idea of what was going on, and most people should here, too.  And I figure it's not all that different from people going to see operas that are done in foreign language.  Except in this, you can sign along with many of the numbers...

This production seems to be a cross between fully staged, and a concert version.  The sets are very sparse, though that's not far from the original production.  One thing missing though is the intentionally oppressive staircase that comes down from the sky, interrupting Cervantes telling of his tale using her fellow-prisoners in the roles, and bringing the reality of The Inquisition back into their lives.

(If you haven't seen it, Man of La Mancha is a show in a show.  Cervantes was a tax collector who was arrested for making the mistake of taxing
the wealthy and powerful.  The prisoner claim his property, but when they set out to burn a manuscript of his, Cervantes begs them to stop.  He pleads guilty of foolishness to their kangaroo court, but insists on offering his explanation.  And that is his telling the tale of what's in his manuscript, and uses the prisoners in the various roles.)

Without the monolithic staircase, they need to change the powerful ending, as Cervantes slowly walks up it with his manservant behind -- as much a dreamer as his Don Quixote of his tale -- as the emotional prisoners serenade
him to...oh, you know.  "The Impossible Dream."  This production by necessity has a more low-key stage, but is effective for it.  Still, I prefer the staircase.  It's darn dramatic, I'm here to tell you.

There's also an oddity about this television production
.  It has French subtitles during songs which, as far as I can tell, are being sung in French.

As a TV show, it begins with behind-the-scenes rehearsals and an homage to the original Broadway production and that of Jacques Brel.

If you want to jump past all that, the actual musical begins at 9:55.

If you want to jump to the first song, that comes around the 22-minute mark.

And if you just want to see "The Impossible Dream," that's at
1 hour and 13 minutes.

As for jumping around to just see the other songs, you're on your own there.  But there's plenty of them, so you'll have a lot to find and choose from. 

Here then are Jose van Dam and Alexise Yema, under the musical direction of conductor (are you ready for this name?) -- Patrick Baton.

This is the Theatre Royal de Liege and the Opera Royal de Wallonie.
2 Comments
Douglass Abramson
5/3/2014 04:34:36 pm

What's your opinion of the movie version of the show? I know that its not generally loved, but I have a soft spot for it. I know that Loren and O'Toole's voices aren't quite up to the material (not that a lack of a singing voice prevented this from being O'Toole's second big screen musical), but I've always liked it and felt that their acting ability more than made up for it. Besides, how can anyone not like a movie with James Coco in it?

Reply
Robert Elisberg
5/4/2014 12:59:09 am

I haven't seen the movie in full for a long time, so I can't give a spot-on answer. I've flipped past and seen sequences, but that's not the best way to judge this story, particularly since it's a story within a story, and I just don't recall how well they handle that.

I'm not a particular fan of the film. My recollection is that they don't handle the two stories well. One of the things about "Man of La Mancha" that makes it so good (to me) is that it's not trying to be realistic, but has an atmospheric sense of theatricality to it, as Cervantes digs into his big trunk to bring out props for the prisoners to use in telling the tale. It creates a vibrancy and ties the two stories together, which as much is Cervantes'. My recollection is that the movie is too "realistic," and never found the balance how to properly blend the two, and that's my biggest quibble.

I'm not bothered by the singing. It's okay and actually sort of fits. And for the big songs that do require serious voices, I know that O'Toole is dubbed. Whether Loren is, I don't recall.

I don't think it's a bad movie at all. Some of the realism works beautifully, adding texture of place. But I don't find it has the vibrancy of the stage show, but feels a bit heavy.

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    Robert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. 

    Elisberg is a two-time recipient of the Lucille Ball Award for comedy screenwriting. He's written for film, TV, the stage, and two best-selling novels, is a regular columnist for the Writers Guild of America and was for
    the Huffington Post.  Among his other writing, he has a long-time column on technology (which he sometimes understands), and co-wrote a book on world travel.  As a lyricist, he is a member of ASCAP, and has contributed to numerous publications.

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