‘Man of La Mancha’ is a 1965 musical from a book by Dale Wasserman, music by Mitch Leigh, and lyrics by Joe Darion. It is adapted from Wasserman’s non-musical 1959 teleplay ‘I, Don Quixote’, which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervantes and his 17th-century novel ‘Don Quixote’. It tells the story of the “mad” knight Don Quixote as a play within a play, performed by Cervantes and his fellow prisoners as he awaits a hearing with the Spanish Inquisition.

Alyque’s iconic interpretation of this musical masterpiece showcased the brilliant Noel Godin in the role of Don Quixote. His jaw-dropping talent was further topped with his beautiful rendition of ‘To Dream The Impossible Dream’.

Nirmala Mathan played Aldonza and the musical had a hugely successful run drawing in Mumbai’s music lovers in droves.

This play was a musical, but didn’t have a lot of dancing, but did have a lot of depth to it. Many from the audience saw the resemblance of Jesus & Mary Magdalene in Don Quixote & Aldonza, who through his faith transforms into Dulcinea, the pure one.

Fun Fact: In the early days, the only way for music, was to have a live band on stage and play live music for the whole play. Many times this was an obstacle due to the unavailability of the musicians and their high charges, etc. In a move to resolve this Alyque thought of something which was never done before in theatre. He had the whole instrumental soundtrack recorded, including the songs, overtures, background music and solos, so the actors had to cue themselves as per the track to not miss a beat.