No. 46. “The Impossible Dream (The Quest)”
MAN OF LA MANCHA (1965). By Mitch Leigh (music), Joe Darion (lyrics) and Dale Wasserman (book). Suggested by the life and works of Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra.
December, 1965. You’re closing out the year by catching THE MAN OF LA MANCHA. It’s playing at a venue that is considered “Broadway” even though it’s in the West Village, 35 blocks south of the next closest Broadway theater. You’re greeted by a stark thrust stage. After a rousing, brassy overture (seriously, are there any strings in the pit at all?) a long staircase descends from the fly space as a couple of officers in Spanish Inquisition garb bring in an older gentleman, played by the distinguished Richard Kiley, and his companion. When the guards go back up the staircase, it retracts behind them, leaving those on the ground in an inescapable prison. The older man reveals himself to be Cervantes, an idealist, poet…and tax collector who was arrested for putting a lien on a church. The other prisoners announce they will hold their own trial for Cervantes and his companion as an excuse to confiscate the new arrivals’s possessions. Those possessions turn out to be costumes, props, and scripts. (Cervantes, as it turns out, is a poet…of the theater.) Cervantes offers to present his play as a defense, and transforms himself into Don Quixote, an old man who considers himself a gallant knight, even though those haven’t existed for a few hundred years. For the rest of the evening, Cervantes recruits other prisoners to play roles in his “production” using only the tools in his trunk and whatever may be lying around. Quixote fights a windmill because he sees it as a dragon, treasures a dirty dishrag like fine gossamer, and treats a lowly barmaid (Aldonza, self-described as a “strumpet men use and forget”) as a fair lady named Dulcinea. Kiley occasionally switches back to the Cervantes persona, acting as narrator and addressing the other prisoners. Quixote remains steadfast, even as others attempt to impose their reality on his worldview. In a soaring dramatic ballad, “The Impossible Dream (The Quest),” Quixote explains how his pursuits bring him a sense of honor, even if they are unachieveable.
Man of La Mancha’s score, with heavy Spanish influences and occasionally operatic heights, doesn’t really sound like anything on Broadway before or since. Despite the 360-year-old source material, it was very much a product of the times, with Albert Marre’s stylish and unconventional staging that incorporated “readers theater” techniques and the sort of “the mad man is actually the sanest one of all” narrative that thrived in that era. (It’s fitting that librettist Dale Wasserman adapted One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Next for the stage a few seasons prior to …La Mancha.) It was a beautifully rendered production where all the elements worked perfectly in sync to express a single vision (even if that vision was not really as profound as they seemed to think it was). It’s nearest modern equivalent is probably Hadestown, which also boasts a “downtown-inspired” staging, a singular score with musical colors not seen elsewhere, and broad idealistic characters from classic literature facing epic challenges.
But whereas Hadestown is an ensemble piece, …La Mancha is a true star turn. Richard Kiley had a well-earned reputation as one of the theater’s most soaring baritones in the 1950s and 1960s, and …La Manchagave him several fantastic songs and room to flex every acting muscle he had. Cervantes/Don Quixote is a gift for an established actor—a love-letter to the act of performance with endless opportunities to explore and refine as he jumps between the dual role. Kiley kept returning to the role into the 1980s. Aside from the shortlived Her First Roman, Kiley didnt appear in non-La Mancha musicals for the rest of his career, focusing on plays and lauded television projects. Just about everyone reading this has heard his voice in at least one movie: Jurassaic Park. Kiley was name-chekced in the original novel as the narrator for the park’s introductory ride, with its creators boasting they “spared no expense” in booking the top talent. This detail carried into the film, and Kiley really recorded that narration.
Recommended Recording: ”The Impossible Dream (The Quest)” Man of La Mancha (1965 Original Broadway Cast)
To be honest, this is the type of bombastic ballad I try to avoid in this project, and for a time I was determined to feature the opening number (“Man of La Mancha (I, Don Quixote)”). But, I realized that this is THE bombastic ballad that everyone other baritone “big sing” wants to be, and excluding it would be malpractice. The song’s heroism and excitement is built into the music, so basically anyone who can hit the notes can perform it powerfully. But Kiley sings it with the gravitas of a Hamlet soliloquy and an intensity you won’t find elsewhere.
Alternate Performances
Man of La Mancha has received ~33 recordings, including Australian, Belgian, Chilean, Czech, Dutch, Essen, Hamburg, Hungarian, Israeli, Japanese, Korean, London, Madrid, Mexican, Norwegian, Paris, Peruvian, Polish, Toronto, and Vienna casts. Not to mention studio recordings featuring artists as varied as Placido Domingo and Jim Nabors! Its movie adaptation is one of the dullest and most disappointing stage-to-screen transfers. “The Impossible Dream (The Quest),” first became a pop hit for Jack Jones, and was subsequently covered by Tom Jones, Elvis, Luther Vandross, The Temptations, and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. It’s appeared on Quantum Leap and The Muppet Show. Aretha Franklin sang it at Rosa Park’s funeral. It’s that kind of song.
1968 Diener Recordings - Though Cervantes/Quixote is the undeniable center of …La Mancha, the role of Aldonza/Ducinea is also a star turn. Joan Diener (wife of director Albert Marre), originated the role and appeared in it whenever she could. She is the definition of a dramatic soprano, and she feasted on the role’s overwrought [not derogatory] ballads. She appears on the 1968 London Cast Recording, with Keith Michell as a fine Cervantes/Quixote. It’s a particularly fun recording because it preserves a lot of the book as well, effectively working as a radio play. She also appears in the 1968 French Cast starring, and translated by, Jacques Brel who was indeed alive, well, and living in Paris. Diener was a bit indulgent with the tempos in London, but that’s nothing compared to how slowly she takes it in French, where all of her tracks are fully 60-seconds longer than their Broadway counterparts.
2002 Broadway Cast - Brian Stokes Mitchell starred in the most recent Broadway revival, which was the first to jettison Marre’s original staging and concept. (Richard Kiley had led a few revivals of …La Mancha in the 1970s, and a 1990s revival—remounting Marre’s original staging—starred Raul Julia and Sheena Easton, but did not get recorded.) It was reasonably well received and had a decent run, even if it didn’t seem to fully bring the piece into the 21st Century. But it’s a treat to hear Mitchell sing this role, and he’s made “The Impossible Dream (The Quest)” a signature number—especially since he sang it out a balcony during lockdown times.
Aaron Lazar, Impossible Dream (2024) - I had the pleasure of seeing Aaron Lazar in The Light in the Piazza and A Little Night Music on Broadway and Dear Evan Hanson on Tour. (You may have seen him as the Soldier in the musical that plays on TV in Everything Everywhere All at Once.) In 2024, shortly after receiving an ALS diagnosis, he recorded Impossible Dream, an album full of appearances by Broadway friends to raise money and awareness for the ALS Network. Over 50 of Broadway’s finest voices join Lazar in a beautiful arrangement of the title song. If you want to cry, watch this video of the recording session.
Is it Covered by The Rat Pack, Audra McDonald, or Glee?
The Rat Pack - Like most other male singers of the day, both Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. recorded “The Impossible Dream (The Quest).”
Audra McDonald played Aldonza in a Bucks County Playhouse production of …La Mancha in 1989 (she would have been 18/19 at the time). I found one review, which was not favorable about most aspects of the production but recognized that “Audra McDonald, who is just plain all around terrific as Aldonza, brings off her character with the same style she puts into her songs.”
Glee - “The Impossible Dream (The Quest)” does not appear on Glee, though it does get called out as an overused audition song by the “Dean of Vocal Performance and Song Interpretation at NYADA,” a very real and normal position for a school to have, played by Whoopi Goldberg.
In the Wings
As you await the release of song no. 47, I have but one small assignment, with the caveat that it is absolutely mandatory. You must watch Linda Eder sing “Man of La Mancha (I, Don Quixote)” from the televised special Broadway: The Leading Ladies at Carnegie Hall. If you start and wonder what I’m so insistent you watch it…skip ahead to 2:12.
Catch up with all the songs to date!
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