The Impossible Dream: ‘Man of La Mancha’ Rides Into RTC

By Dan Guarino

“To dream the impossible…” Audiences across the world over know those stirring lyrics and music. Now, that song and many others will burst forth from the Rockaway Theatre Company’s stage in their new production of “Man of La Mancha.” The musical tale of Don Quixote will open on Friday, March 27, and run through Sunday, April 12.

Presented at RTC’s John Gilleece Theater at Fort Tilden, near Breezy Point, showtimes will be Fridays and Saturdays, March 27 and 28, April 3, 4, 10 and 11 plus Thursday, April 2 at 8 p.m., and Sundays, March 29 and April 12 at 2 p.m. Tickets for this, plus all 2026 RTC shows, are available at www.rockawaytheatrecompany.org.

“‘Man of La Mancha’ recounts some of the misadventures of literary hero Don Quixote, created by Miguel de Cervantes in the early 17th Century,” Thom Harmon, director of RTC’s production, explained. In it, “Quixote chooses to imagine himself as a medieval knight, roaming the countryside, seeking to right wrongs and defeat unknown evils.”

“The key theme,” Harmon said, “is summed up when Quixote describes his quest as aiming ‘to add some measure of grace to the world.’ This is a story of the power of grace to raise us up to new heights of kindness.”

This unlikely, yet noble, hero’s journey is played out here on stage with such powerful songs as “The Impossible Dream,” “I’m Only Thinking of Him,” and “Dulcinea.” All is layered in the professional production level which the peninsula’s own Rockaway Theatre Company has become known for. Audiences will be drawn in by the comedy and heartfelt emotion, color and costumes, ingenious hand-built sets, sheer physicality and powerful performances.

Along the way, they meet the resolute underdog, chivalrous and possibly mad, Don Quixote, his beleaguered squire Sancho Panza, the spirited, earthy Dulcinea, Quixote’s bewildered family, scoundrels and a host of other rich characters.

The story of “Man of La Mancha,” the musical, goes back to author Miguel de Cervantes novel “Don Quixote.” In life, Cervantes was quite an adventurer himself. In this more loosely based musical adaptation, he becomes a central character, the teller of the staged tale, where the line between fantasy and reality is squarely blurred.

Debuting on Broadway in 1965, “Man of La Mancha” has won numerous awards, entertained and enraptured audiences for decades, and even been translated into a multitude of languages including Croatian, Dutch, French, German, Hebrew, Irish, Estonian, Japanese, Korean, Bengali, Gujarati, Uzbek, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Serbian, Slovenian, Swahili, Swedish, Finnish, Chinese, Ukrainian, Turkish, and even nine dialects of Spanish, as it has found success around the world. Many might be familiar with the 1972 award-winning film with Peter O’Toole and Sophia Loren.

About the stage production, Harmon said, “I deeply love this show, not just for the Spanish-infused music or the iconic characters, but for these powerful themes of sacrificial love and the power of storytelling.”

Harmon discovered it for himself in 2014 and said he “was surprised and taken with how it manages to juxtapose sublime beauty with cartoonish, even slapstick humor. It’s a truly unique show in that regard.”

“Even if you don’t know the show,” he adds, “you almost surely have heard ‘The Impossible Dream.’  It’s not only a soaring, uplifting masterpiece of a song, but it perfectly encapsulates the quest we all are pursuing.”

“Oh,” Harmon added, “and we have a dancing horse and donkey!”

Rehearsing now for months, he said the shows’ cast “is not only super talented, but they have really embraced the ethos of Don Quixote and his message of grace and kindness. It’s been especially fun to see how most of them didn’t know the show at all before being cast, and now have become evangelists for it!”

He added, “We have a cast of 18 actors, which is a bit smaller than some of the bigger musicals that RTC does annually. And while RTC patrons will surely recognize a few veterans of our stage, I’m thrilled that about a third of our team are new to the company.

“We have an absolutely stellar cast who are fully embodying these roles.”

Putting the “music” in “musical” in a big way, “Man of La Mancha” is slated to have one of the larger live orchestras for an RTC show, with 13 talented musicians conjuring the score, which, Harmon said, “requires lots of brass and wind instruments. The band alone is worth the price of admission!

“We are in the best of hands (with this show). Starting with our Music Director Jeff Arzberger, whose passion for this score is infectious. Despite this show not having a lot of traditional dance numbers, our Assistant Director/Choreographer Cassaundra Reed has been essential to helping everyone find their characters through physicality and movement. And our co-stage managers Vanessa McMahon and Alannah Fabry keep it all running smoothly.

“Oh, and did I mention the dancing horse and donkey?!”

Harmon himself is an experienced performer whom audiences will have seen at RTC starring in “God of Carnage” and “Urinetown.”

“I got involved in theatre fairly late in life, but when I did, it fundamentally changed me,” Harmon said. “I started off as an actor and then started directing about five years ago, starting with a beautiful Conor McPherson play called ‘The Weir,’ produced by City Gate Productions in central Queens.” His directing credits also include “Lobby Hero” with City Gate, “Mousetrap” with Maggie’s Little Theater in Middle Village, and co-director of RTC’s comedy “Shakespeare in Hollywood.”

With “Man of La Mancha” he noted, “This may be one of the most legendary Broadway shows that the fewest people know. If you’re a Broadway fan, you owe it to yourself to see this production. And for those who do know the show, I’m sure you already have your ticket because you know the sublime beauty and absurdly silly humor you are in for!”

Indeed, audiences may know “Man of La Mancha’s” most famous song. But now they will want to know Don Quixote’s story. And finally, if our hero ever, ever reaches his “impossible dream.”

Photos by Dan Guarino.