Shakes’ magical dungeon propels ‘Man of La Mancha’
You might do a doubletake as you walk into Orlando Shakes’ Margeson Theater, and not only because a reconfiguration means audience seating is “in the round” — on every side of the stage. Chains dangle from the ceiling, alongside a sinister rope noose. Against a backdrop of prison bars, lanterns flicker in aqua and green.
For Orlando Shakespeare Theater’s production of the musical “Man of La Mancha,” set designer Jim Hunter made sure the Margeson has never looked better. Then, when a staircase lowers from above, sound designers Craig Beyrooti and Trevor Peters give us every forbidding creak, and lighting designer Bert Scott shows us the soft glow of freedom beyond the stairs.
In short, this “Man of La Mancha” looks and sounds fantastic — and that goes beyond the technical effects. Music director Michael Raabe has turned the acting ensemble into a choir, brimming with a rich sound. Not just the leading players display vocal prowess; the supporting actors are in great voice, too — led off by Victor Souffrant’s opening cry of anguish, resilience with a hint of triumph.
There’s a reason the only song most people remember from “Man of La Mancha” is “The Impossible Dream” — it so far outshines any other musical number in the show — but these performers make you appreciate the lesser-known songs, especially “Little Bird, Little Bird” and “I’m Only Thinking of Him.”
“Man of La Mancha” is set in a dungeon during the 16th-century Spanish Inquistion. Davis Gaines, the homegrown Broadway actor, plays author Miguel de Cervantes. While imprisoned, Cervantes entertains his fellow prisoners with his tale of Don Quixote. The show raises lofty ideas of what it means to be human, and Gaines nicely conveys both the grace that comes from trying to rise above a corrupt world — and the danger of ignoring reality.
If Gaines is the show’s soul, Laura Hodos is its heart. As a downtrodden cynic whose eyes are opened to the magic of possibility, Hodos is magnetic as she spits “Nobody touches my heart.” And she blazes through her character’s signature song, “Aldonza.”
As seen at a preview, director Nick DeGruccio has mixed results with his in-the-round staging. He keeps his performers in motion, yet every major song begins with the singer facing the Margeson’s traditional front. Variety in positioning the actors could help those in the newly added seats from feeling like an afterthought in this otherwise involving production.