Civic’s ‘La Mancha’ just plain brilliant

For an apt illustration of the strengths of the Spokane Civic Theatre, check out this version of “Man of La Mancha.”

This production belies the Civic’s status as a community, aka amateur, theater. Begin with the stunning set by David Baker – a full-size stone dungeon, complete with a long staircase lowered by creaking chains, like a castle door. Firelight flickers moodily through its weathered archways.

Most community theaters can only dream of the expertise, much less the budget, to carry off such a set.

Then consider the lead actor, Patrick McHenry-Kroetch, who is wholly of professional caliber in everything except paycheck (like all Civic actors, he doesn’t get one). Yet he commands the stage with total confidence, embodying both the creative intelligence of Miguel de Cervantes and the half-cracked idealism of Don Quixote de La Mancha.

Also, he has a voice rich enough to make “The Impossible Dream” sound like Cervantes’ poetry.

These two elements, along with a talented musical combo in the pit, are enough to make this Troy Nickerson-directed production a fully successful realization of the Dale Wasserman-Mitch Leigh-Joe Darion warhorse.

It is, in fact, one of the better productions I’ve seen, and the others have almost all been professional.

Yes, McHenry-Kroetch is better than Robert Goulet, who played this role in a touring production in Spokane in 1997. With his tall, straight bearing and his chiseled features, McHenry-Kroetch is every bit the definition of a leading man.

This show requires curious transformations of all its actors; its play-within-a-play structure means almost everybody plays at least two characters.

McHenry-Kroetch handles his two roles impeccably. He’s clear-eyed and direct as Cervantes, then when he dons the gray goatee and the armored breastplate as Quixote, he becomes stooped, rheumy-eyed and more than a little barmy.

His “Impossible Dream” was different from any I have heard – and highly effective.

He did not deliver it as a big showstopping number, although his voice is strong enough to do so. He delivered it completely in character, as Don Quixote, explaining simply and directly, through music, the purpose of his odd, quixotic quest. He simply believed that the world would be a better place if even one man attempted, successfully or not, to “right the unrightable wrong.”

I have great respect for this artistic choice by Nickerson and McHenry-Kroetch – a choice that put the story first, not individual performance. It stripped “The Impossible Dream” of musical histrionics and turned it into a moving statement of character.

Gary Pierce provided well-timed comic relief as the jaunty and lovable Sancho Panza, and Tami Knoell was a brooding and powerful presence as the ill-treated Aldonza/Dulcinea.

The ensemble seemed particularly well-drilled, a trademark of a Nickerson production (he also is the choreographer).

I was particularly struck by the choreography and movement in the fight scene and the Aldonza attack scene. These scenes were plotted out so skillfully that the audience was oohing, ahhing and gasping almost as if they were following a particularly tense boxing match.

Gary Laing’s musical direction is sure and strong; the extensive use of classical guitar was particularly effective in giving the score a Spanish accent.

The beautifully conceptualized costumes by Susan Berger and Jan Wanless were every bit as important as the sets in creating a sense of time and place. From Quixote’s breastplate to Aldonza’s rags to Dr. Carrasco’s robes, they evoked the Spain of the Inquisition.

I can’t help but be relentlessly positive about this production, largely because of a realization that hit me about a quarter of the way through: This was the first time I felt like I totally understood the themes, the structure and the appeal of this often-difficult 1965 musical.

For the first time I realized that “Man of La Mancha” is a worthy celebration and distillation of Cervantes’ own genius and message. Maybe I’ve simply seen the show enough times to get it. But I think it has more to do with Nickerson’s theatrical savvy and storytelling instincts.

Tilting at windmills, I now see, deserves our utmost respect.