Man of La Mancha

It has been 40 years since Man of La Mancha featured at the West End. Cervantes’ satirical masterpieces have permeated and evolved through the centuries while maintaining the core ideas that are relevant in any era. Man of La Mancha is no different. It is loosely based on Cervantes’ famous novel Don Quixote and the writer’s comical struggles to keep it from being confiscated by the draconian Spanish legal system in the 17th century.

With top-notch music by Mitch Leigh and lyrics by Joe Darion, the musical takes its audiences on a hilarious journey on which Cervantes’ and his servant begin to behave like Don Quixote and Sancho Panza in Cervantes’ own book. The show also involves Bryn Terfel, a Welsh opera sensation who has won the Grammy Award. Man of La Mancha is an aggregation of some of the best writers, musicians, and actors in the world, and thus promises to be an exquisite show that is sure to keep you clutching your sides in fits of laughter long after the curtains are down!

Man of La Mancha is set in 17th Century Spain, a time of great turmoil and oppression that became famous as the violent Spanish Inquisition. Miguel de Cervantes himself is a character in the play. He is a failed tax collector and playwright who is locked up in prison for having attempted to tax a monastery. A kangaroo court unexpectedly steps in before the official trial and threatens to confiscate Cervantes’ most precious manuscript- Don Quixote. In an uncanny turn of events, Cervantes and his servant transform into Don Quixote and Sancho Panza! Their imaginations run riot as they set out on an adventure to defeat all that is deemed evil by the chivalrous knights of the medieval age.

This hilarious show is certain to be one of the best musicals this season at the West End!

“Still true to its glorious quest!”
– The New York Stage Review