Broadway at Duke brings windmills to life

What better way to make the transition back from Spring Break in paradise than through an evening of fanciful and imaginative theater?

Broadway at Duke will complete its 2006-2007 season with the Tony Award-winning musical Man of La Mancha. Phoenix Entertainment, an international theatrical production company, will bring the acclaimed Broadway show to the Duke stage March 20.

Man of La Mancha is an artistic retelling of Miguel de Cervantes' novel Don Quixote. In the play, the protagonist narrates his legendary tale from a dungeon while prisoner of the Spanish Inquisition.

"It deals with issues of memory and imagination," said senior Josh Posen, president of Broadway at Duke. "It's fairly existential."

Man of La Mancha is a more serious, intellectual piece among this year's Broadway at Duke repertoire. As a historical commentary, as well as an interpretation of a notable literary work, Man of La Mancha has not only artistic but also academic merit.

"It's a really interesting piece because it departs from the musical structure that most students would recognize in Cats or Hairspray or Wicked," Posen said. "It's the opposite of a modern day mega-musical."

Told in one act with minimal set and costume changes, Man of La Mancha lacks the over-the-top glamour often associated with Broadway. It demands that the audience invest in the visualization of what is not immediately apparent, while the sparse set of the dungeon serves as a constant reminder of the historical context in which Cervantes wrote.

"That element is important because it emphasizes the dominance and authority of the Inquisition over these artisans," Posen said. "They don't use too many set elements because you go between the dungeon and two deeper layers of storytelling."