Baylor Opera Theater Presents ‘Man of La Mancha’ at the Waco Hippodrome on April 12 and 13

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WACO, Texas (April 8, 2016) – Baylor Opera and the Baylor Jazz Ensemble will present a concert version of highlights from “Man of La Mancha,” one of the world’s most popular musicals, at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 12 and 13, at the Waco Hippodrome in downtown Waco.
“Man of La Mancha” is a 1965 musical with lyrics by Joe Darion and music by Mitch Leigh. The production is loosely based on the seventeenth-century novel “Don Quixote” by Miguel de Cervantes. The original Broadway production of “Man of La Mancha” ran for 2,328 performances and won five Tony awards, including Best Musical. It has been revived four times on Broadway, becoming one of the most enduring works of musical theater.
The play is about Alonso Quijana, a man who sets his own reality aside and becomes Don Quixote De La Mancha, assisted by his “squire” Sancho Panza to avoid his mortal enemy, the Enchanter, and woo a young servant girl, Aldonza.
The show will be conducted by Alex Parker, director of Jazz studies, with stage direction by Octavio Cárdenas, director of opera, and musical preparation by Jeffery Peterson, Ph.D., assistant professor of voice.
“The story is stripped down to the basics,” Cárdenas said. “It is semi-staged, without any extreme costumes or sets to distract the eye from the music. The focus is primarily on the performer and his or her interaction with the audience. It’s all about the music.”
The Baylor Opera was established in the early 1940’s and boasts a long history of excellence in opera production and training. Recent productions of the Baylor Opera Theater include Falstaff, Die Fledermaus, Don Giovanni, La Boheme, The Barber of Seville, The Crucible, The Elixir of Love, The Marriage of Figaro and the Gondoliers.
For ticket information, call 254-227-6723. The Waco Hippodrome Theatre is located at 724 Austin Avenue.
by Bethany Harper, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805
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