The Impossible Musical: The "Man of La Mancha" Story

by Dale Wasserman

(Applause Books). Man of La Mancha is arguably the most popular musical drama of all time, most recently on Broadway starring Brian Stokes Mitchell. Dale Wasserman, however, had more trouble getting it on to a Broadway stage than Don Quixote ever had with those damn windmills. For centuries, writers all over the world had tried to stage Cervantes' comic masterpiece, and all had failed. On a sabbatical to Spain in the late 1950s, screenwriter-stage director Dale Wasserman had the insight to change that Don Quixote the novel was too rambling to be dramatized, but the almost equally incredible story of the novel's creator wasn't. Wasserman wrote, first, a tv drama of Man of La Mancha (Cervantes is the Man, not Quixote, by the way), which David Susskind produced as "I, Don Quixote." What happened next, and for the next several decades, to this remarkable drama is an incredible drama in its own right. Many writers tried to get Wasserman to contribute to an "official" account of the making of Man of La Mancha , but Wasserman knew he was the only writer who both knew all the facts, all the facets, and would eventually get around to writing the story as it should be written, as both a "making of" and a "commentary on the state of" story. From the Costa Del Sol to Hollywood, Broadway and beyond, with a host of spectacular people, including Ava Gardner, Colleen Dewhurst (whom Wasserman discovered for La Mancha ) and John Huston, this is the full story of Man of La Mancha , before Broadway and beyond. Included is the full script of the original TV version, "I, Don Quixote."

Genres: Nonfiction

360 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2003

About the author

Dale Wasserman was an American playwright.

His protagonists are a bit like Wasserman himself: raffish rebels, fiercely independent fools—poets, madmen and misfits—societal outcasts who defy authority and "tilt at windmills," reluctant heroes (sometimes anti-heroes), who are called upon to make some extraordinary sacrifice in order to protect or preserve their personal freedom or that of others.

Reviews

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the musical "Man of La Mancha," and it was interesting to read about its creation, but I found Wasserman arrogant and annoying.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dale Wasserman helped create “Man of La Mancha” but the road to mounting this improbable story about Miguel de Cervantes was a twisted and torturous one. This book is partially self congratulatory, filled with stories of his dismay and anger towards “creative” directors, nitpicking advertisers who tried changing the title and ego-ridden producers who thought they knew how to mount a play, musical or movie when they didn’t have a clue.

He also comes across as a man of contradictions with a constant wanderlust, a disconnected feeling to one place, a dislike of awards (he refused to attend most award ceremonies and anyone wanting an interview had to come to him) but possessing a gregarious nature that made him friends with many people.

But his love for his story of a man thrown into dire circumstances and having to defend his work to a critical “jury” of fellow inmates shines through in every chapter. Mr. Wasserman reiterates that he didn’t intend for his play to mimic the novel—like most people, he hasn’t read Cervantes’s massive oeuvre—and you see that in his detailed stories of what it took to mount this work and bring it to the attention of its many audiences. Somehow this story of a foolish dreamer/madman persecuted by the Inquisition resonates with people and continues to do so.

He’s cautious about the idea of “success”. What constitutes one in the performing world? How much money is raked in (how do you measure that when a large proportion goes to the performers, backstage workers, backers, employees, etc.?)? How often a piece is performed? Rave reviews (critics are apt to be stingy with superlatives; what you see on posters and billboards tend to be carefully edited word bites by paid advertisers)? Yet Man of La Mancha has remained in continuous production ever since its first mounting in an Off-Broadway theater. It has been translated into many different languages and some high school or college somewhere is performing it as we speak.

Yet that’s not what is important. What Mr. Wasserman believes is that something in the musical resonates with the people who watch it. They crave something difficult, nay, impossible and the musical sings of this desire in soaring and memorable tunes.

What you carry away from this story is not the destination but the incredible journey and transition from book to play to musical. It’s an absorbing tale with nary a dull patch in it (read about a hilarious rant from a nude Kirk Douglas and the amazing, show-stopping performance by Brian Stokes-Mitchell, e.g.) If you care about musicals, the performing arts in general and this musical in particular, this is one of the better memoirs out there.

[Meredith Miyake · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a fan of the musical, have been since I was a child, but I knew very little about its conception or even really its inspirations sources of Cervantes and his Don Quixote. This book is an mix of history, sentiment, and the tempestuous world of show business. I found the author charming and the first half of the book utterly enchanting. The latter half lacked the magic, as the reality of dreams often do, but I still found it an interesting read.
A good book if you love the play.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This autobiography is extremely full of self-love, but it is a fascinating look into the making of Man of La Mancha. Must read for any dramaturg (theatre researcher).