Sunday, February 27, 2000
CCM's 'LaMancha' powerhouse of talent
BY JACKIE DEMALINE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
While the glam touring version of Cabaret is getting all the ink this week, know that there's another re-examined musical on local boards.
Aubrey Berg has buffed and streamlined Man of LaMancha into a powerhouse for College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati. The voices are good enough for an original cast album, and in the title role, Aaron Lazar is the kind of talent that says “next stop — Broadway.”
It is 1597, high times for the Spanish Inquisition. Poet, actor and tax collector Miguel de Cervantes (Mr. Lazar) trods downward into a Seville dungeon, where he and sundry thieves and murderers await trial — and almost certain execution.
They hold a mock trial of their own. As his defense, Cervantes engages them in the drama of a country squire, no longer young, who has laid down the melancholy burden of sanity to proclaim himself knight Don Quixote, righter of wrongs, fighter of windmills, idealist in the face of increasingly sad reality.
Mr. Lazar moves effortlessly through his dual roles (his sidekick is Daniel Cochran), and he enslaves the audience with his rendition of “The Impossible Dream,” which lives up to its reputation as a show-stopper here.
LaMancha is stripped to essentials by director Berg, eliminating everything not connected to the central plot of Quixote's adventures at an inn frequented by cutthroats. That's where he encounters slattern Aldonza (Nikki Daniels), whom he envisions as his ideal woman Dulcinea.
Meanwhile, back at home, the squire's housekeeper (Tory Ross), niece (Liz Pearce) and her fiance, the coldly realistic Carrasco (Tony Yazbeck) worry over his behavior with the neighborhood padre (David Hyland).
With Mr. Berg's pruning, LaMancha now plays under two hours with no intermission. There's no obstacle to slow the building emotion.
As usual, there are astoundingly mature performances coming from these college students.
LaMancha is wonderful, but it comes so close to being extraordinary that you mourn the missing element, and that is a strong acting performance from Ms. Daniels in the pivotal role of Aldonza.
She doesn't persuade you that she's ever been dirty or smelled anything bad. And there's not the shattering illumination when we discover there is a chink in her armor.
This LaMancha, thanks to the combined efforts of Mr. Berg and stage combat director K. Jenny Jones, gives an actress an open path to an unforgettable performance, complete with the most brutal gang rape sequence I've seen in a LaMancha.
Ms. Daniels can't find Aldonza's soul, although her vocal performance is completely satisfying.
The entire performance is underscored by the fine musical direction of Roger Grodsky.
On opening night, the sound design by student Bryan Ross Schlegel still needed fine tuning. The rest of the production elements are as eye-catching as we've come to expect from the CCM team.
Man of LaMancha, through March 5, Patricia Corbett Theater, CCM, University of Cincinnati. 556-4183.
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