Copperstate Dinner Theater

THE COPPERSTATE DINNER THEATER.AT PHOENIX GREYHOUND PARK IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE OPENING OF THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM MUSICAL MAN OF LA MANCHA ON FRIDAY, SEPT. 19, 2003.

MAN OF LA MANCHA, THE CURRENT HIT BROADWAY REVIVAL COMES TO THE COPPERSTATE DINNER THEATER. DON QUIXOTE COMES ALIVE IN THIS BEAUTIFUL REVIVAL OF THE CURRENT BROADWAY HIT MUSICAL WHICH CHALLENGES US ‘NOT TO SEE LIFE AS IT IS, BUT AS IT OUGHT TO BE’. DON’T MISS THIS COMIC, INSPIRATIONAL MEGA-HIT IMPOSSILBE DREAM MUSICAL.

MAN OF LA MANCHA IS DIRECTED BY COPPERSTATE DINNER THEATER’S PRODUCING DIRECTOR, PETER J. HILL WITH MUSICAL DIRECTION BY LOREN CHAMBERLAIN AND CO-DIRECTED AND CHOREOGRAPHED BY NOEL IRICK. THIS IS THE SAME TEAM THAT CREATED THE ARIZONI AWARD WINNING PRODUCTIONS OF BROADWAY JUKEBOX, BROADWAY BY THE DECADE, THE THREE MUSKETEERS AND 4 ON THE FLOOR. IT STARS JESSE BERGER, MARTY BERGER, GIL BERRY, MARTHA BROOKS, MARILYN GIBSON, BRUCE HALPERIN, ROY HUNT, TIMOTHY JUSTIN, ATHENA REISS, AND HILL HIMSELF IN THE TITLE ROLE.

MAN OF LA MANCHA WILL PLAY AT THE COPPERSTATE DINNER THEATER, 3801 E. WASHINGTON INSIDE THE PHOENIX GREYHOUND PARK. PERFORMANCES ARE SEPTEMBER 19 - NOVEMBER 16, 2003, FRIDAY & SATURDAY EVENINGS DINNER 6:30, CURTAIN 8:00. AND SUNDAY SUPPER SHOWS WITH DINNER 5:30 AND CURTAIN 7:00. THE TICKET PRICE FOR ALL PERFORMANCES IS ONLY $32.95 PER PERSON WHICH INCLUDES DINNER AND THE SHOW AS WELL AS TAX AND GRATUITY. DINNER IS A SIT-DOWN SERVICE, NOT BUFFET. WITH A CHOICE OF FOUR DELICIOUS ENTREES: PRIME RIB, GRILLED SALMON FILET, TERYAKI CHICKEN BREAST, AND VEGETABLE LASAGNA. MEALS COME WITH SIDE DISHES, SALAD WITH CHOICE OF DRESSING, ROLLS AND BUTTER. APPETIZERS, DESSERTS AND BEVERAGES ARE EXTRA. A FULL BAR IS AVAILABLE. RESERVATIONS CAN BE MADE AT (602) 279-3129.

The History of Man of LaMancha

One of the all-time great successes of American stage history, Man of La Mancha is worthy of the book on which it was
based, Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes, one of the great masterpieces of world literature for almost 400 years.
Since the death of Cervantes in 1616, more than 200 adaptations of it into theatrical form have been made – operas, plays,
films, ballets, television shows – but none of these matched the popularity of the musical. Dale Wasserman wrote the TV
drama entitled I, Don Quixote that was nominated for a 1960 Emmy and won that year’s Writers Guild award.
Wasserman enlarged his television script into a non-musical stage play and it was optioned for Broadway. But he was
persuaded to rewrite it as a musical and was brought together with Mitch Leigh and Joe Darion, who could provide the music
and lyrics. Their collaboration, with the title of Man of La Mancha, was embarked for a pre-Broadway tryout at the
Goodspeed Opera House, where it triumphed so handsomely for four weeks during the summer that the hope for a New York
production became a certainty.
Instead of using a standard proscenium-type theatre, the producers of the show mounted it at the ANTA Washington Square
Theatre in New York’s Greenwich Village, an open stage theatre that had been built as a temporary home for the Repertory
Theatre of Lincoln Center until they could take up residence in their lavish uptown cultural center. Man of La Mancha fitted
beautifully into this setting, gaining critical acclaim for the effectiveness of its physical production.
The show opened on November 22, 1965, with the same cast (with no stars) that had played the summer tryout. While it was
anticipated with some interest among theatre professionals, there was little to rouse expectations among ordinary audiences
and the advance ticket sale was small. But the morning after its premiere, showered with superlative reviews, it was suddenly
the hottest ticket in town. Audiences flocked to see it. So great was the rush of theatergoers that even a paralyzing transit
strike couldn’t hold up the throngs. The show won all the major theatre awards for the season, being named as best musical by
the N.Y. Drama Critics’ Circle, The Outer Circle, The Variety Poll and Saturday Review. It received five Tony awards, with
one each to the composer, the lyricist, the director and Richard Kiley, who played the leading role.
In 1968, when the time came to dismantle the downtown theatre to make way for New York University’s expansion, the
still-flourishing show was moved into a proscenium-type Broadway theatre, where it continued to thrive. It reached its
1,800th uninterrupted New York performance on December 27, 1969, and promised to hold on for a good while longer. At
that point it had already surpassed the Broadway runs of South Pacific, The Sound of Music and How to Succeed in Business
Without Really Trying.
In the meantime, other parts of the country and the world were sharing the happy experience of New York theatergoers.
Several highly successful touring companies of the show played U.S. cities, and productions were mounted in every major
capital of the world. The first of these was appropriately the Madrid production in 1966 on the 350th anniversary of
Cervantes’ death. At the same time that a production of a play written by Cervantes was greeted by a very unenthusiastic
critical reaction, Man of La Mancha was hailed by critics and became a smashing success in Spain. Productions in Israel,
Sweden, Denmark, Czechoslovakia, England and various countries in South America and elsewhere followed. In each
production one of each country’s foremost performers assayed the famous title role.
Late in 1969, the producers invited the stars of several of these foreign productions to recreate their performances in New
York with the Broadway company. The Mexican star, Claudio Brook, was the first of these guest artists to appear, and among
those to follow were the stars of the Israeli and the Japanese productions.
An original cast album received critical acclaim when it was released in early 1966.
Man of La Mancha ended its long run in June 1971 after amassing a total of 2,328 performances both on and off Broadway.
Since ending its premier run in New York, it has gone on to become one of the great musical classics of the modern theatre.
Six-and-a-half years after the premier opening in New York, the musical returned to the Vivan Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln
Center for a summer-long run, again an enormous success.
The film version, made in Spain, was released in mid-December, 1972 and was a notable failure with the critics
(“Heavy-handed” was the general view; and miscast: Peter O’Toole was Don Quixote, Sophia Loren was Aldonza and James
Coco was Sancho Panza, and none of them could sing). Film publicity played up the fact that Man of La Mancha had been
translated into 28 languages and had been performed with success in 24 countries.
Also in 1972, Man of La Mancha became the third American musical to be performed in the Soviet Union (following West
Side Story and My Fair Lady). In the fall of 1977, the musical was again revived in New York, where it ran for 124
performances. The 25th anniversary revival began a seven-city tour in November 1991 and opened on Broadway in April
1992 with Raul Julia and Sheena Easton as its stars, where it had 108 regular performances and 28 previews. The 35th
anniversary revival was produced at the Goodspeed Opera House, where the musical had originally begun prior to Broadway.

This production, starring Brian Stokes Mitchell in the title role, opened on Broadway in 2002.