Man of La Mancha – London Coliseum

Nicholas Lyndhurst, Peter Polycarpou and Kelsey Grammer in Man of La Mancha at the London Coliseum. Picture: Manuel Harlan

Man of La Mancha continues at the London Coliseum until 8 June 2019.

Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩

Premiered in 1965, Man of La Mancha had a meteoric rise, via Off-Broadway to Broadway, two London runs with Keith Michell and Richard Kiley, and numerous foreign language productions and recordings. It also spawned the classic ballad ‘The Impossible Dream’.

Not seen in London for 50 years other than a concert performance at the Peacock Theatre that was broadcast and issued as a recording, expectations ran high for this ENO collaboration with its glitzy cast. Dale Wasserman (book) and Mitch Leigh (music) were always adamant that their work was not a musicalisation of the Cervantes novel Don Quixote.

Indeed the original book is dense, the language classical, with many episodes omitted in popular versions of the story. The book of the musical is as literary, with some poetic licence with the plot. Since then we have become accustomed to less literary books for musicals, so it might jar with an audience more used to a sparser style of writing.

Opening with the overture taken at a brisk tempo, we are plunged into a cavernous setting with a hip hop-style dancer, it looks like a crowd of homeless down and outs. We envisage an update of some kind. Then we get a spectacular entrance for author and poet Cervantes down the gantry that descends from the roof of the cavern, but the references to the Spanish Inquisition, and the mix of costume styles plunges us back into a 17th century  dungeon.

James Noone’s set is spectacular and appropriate for the size of the Coliseum stage, and Lonny Price’s production makes effective use of it, though it lacks the folksy charm and simple storytelling of the original Broadway production.

Cervantes finds he is to be tried by a kangaroo court by the low life he finds himself imprisoned with, but wins a reprieve from the self-appointed Governor to allow him to read them his manuscript. Transforming himself into Don Quixote we embark on his journey of enlightenment, an ambitious quest to make the world a better place, to turn mundane existence and impoverished beings into something greater than their expectations.

Kelsey Grammer is a fine charismatic actor as we saw in his previous appearance in London in Big Fish, in a role with lesser vocal demands. He still commands the stage as Cervantes/Don Quixote, but sadly just doesn’t have the voice for it. He talk/sings, with the odd impressive top note, with precise use of the lyrics, but lacks line and a thrilling sound.

Danielle de Niese, with her Glyndebourne Opera pedigree, has all the power, though occasionally the tone is shrill, but employs it in a performance that is incessantly overbearing, and misses her character’s tenderness and lack of self pity, smothering it in petulance and aggression. ‘Aldonza’, her final outburst at Quixote’s attempts to endow her with a spiritual virtue as Dulcinea is wildly aggressive, when the lyrics say it all. A vulgar attempt at a show-stopping performance.

Peter Polycarpou as Cervante’s manservant Sancho Panza is amusing, but adopts a comic book Spanish accent, rolling his Rs. It’s one of a hodgepodge of accents, ranging from cod Spanish to British regional.

It’s a relief when we get to the comic song ‘I’m Only Thinking of Him’, wonderfully sung and acted by Lucy St. Louis as Quixote’s niece Antonia, Julie Jupp as his Housekeeper and Minal Patel as the Padre. Emanuel Alba as the Barber gives us a delightfully camp rendition of ‘The Golden Helmet of Mambrino’, when Quixote idealises his basin as a helmet.

However, the real standout is Nicholas Lyndhurst. Ominous and authoritarian as the self-appointed Governor of the prisoners, he offers a droll and surprisingly moving take on the role of the Inn Keeper who indulges Quixote’s wish for a title with his re-invention of what can be a rather dull song, ‘Knight of the Woeful Countenance’.

The story wends its way to the emotional finale of  Quixote’s life, then culminates with a second ending as Cervantes and his manservant are lead away to face the Inquisition. There’s a stunning picture as they ascend the gantry with a reprieve of ‘The Impossible Dream’, led by fine singing from De Niese, with the chorus of prisoners joining in.

Ultimately, the evening is an assortment of parts that don’t quite come together. A score that many of us have loved for decades only gets full musical value intermittently, and the production lacks heart.

Perhaps it needs a production nearer to the charm of the Broadway original to enfold us in its tale of a mad quest to  make the world a better place. To fulfil impossible dreams and reach for the stars.

Leon Ferguson

Tickets for Man of La Mancha at the London Coliseum are available HERE.