Mother-daughter duo Kathleen Bleutge and Lora Buckman team up as the respective director and producer of Man of La Mancha, an awarding-winning, PG-13 musical inspired by Miguel Cervantes’ Don Quixote.
The Sterling Playmakers, a nonprofit community theatre group, will take the Seneca Ridge Middle School stage for the musical’s Nov. 10, 8 p.m. opening show. The school will also host matinee and evening shows through Nov. 18.
“Man of La Mancha is a classic that requires quality actors,” Angela Hepola, Sterling Playmakers’ publicity manager, said. “It is a fantastic show, inspired by a great cast, crew and beautiful voices.”
Ted Fredrick, a Sterling Playmaker actor, will act as both the Governor and the Innkeeper in the Tony Award-winning play.
“The demands on the cast are perhaps greater than any other of the dozen or so musicals [in which] I have performed,” Fredrick said. “The Governor is a mean-hearted, bully-ish, almost evil character, [while the] Innkeeper is kind-hearted and helpful—a pleasant man.”
“By the end of the show … in the Governor role, [I am] transformed by Don Quixote into an understanding, thoughtful man,” Fredrick continued. “This is multiplied across most of the cast of the show, [which] adds up to an entertaining mixture of fun, frolic and even heavy-hearted moments.”
Kelly Gray, who plays Aldonza, has waited years for this opportunity.
“This is my favorite musical, mostly because of the book … the message,” Gray said. “It struck a chord with me when I first saw it many years ago at Toby’s Dinner Theatre in Columbia, Maryland. Powerful, moving, raw and life-changing, it is a story of how to create, or recreate, your life by seeing it into being … believing it into being.”
Everyone who has a hand in bringing Man of La Mancha to life is a volunteer, practicing and preparing in their spare time.
The $15 admission ticket will fund future plays’ costumes, sets and outreach activities.
