Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, author of Don Quixote, was a playwright, poet, and tax collector. But, despite the success of his masterpiece, published in 1604, Cervantes died 12 years later in poverty, having never received any payment for its publication. Don’t you wish Cervantes could miraculously reappear and be the guest of honor at a production of Man of La Mancha, the 1965 musical inspired by the novel?

The Broadway production, which ran for 2,328 performances, won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It has been revived four times on Broadway, becoming one of the most enduring works of musical theatre. And its signature song is, of course, The Impossible Dream. Man of La Mancha was first performed at the Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, Connecticut, in 1965, and had its New York premiere at the ANTA Washington Square Theatre that year.

Before we move on with our story, I’d like to suggest two other inspiring songs that will move you, comfort you, and remind you that you are never alone. They are Summertime and, of course, You’ll Never Walk Alone. Click on these links and the songs will come right up! And now…

Don Quixote: A Synopsis

Don Quixote and his manservant Sancho Panza take to the road in a quest to restore the age of chivalry, battle all evil, and right all wrongs. The famous battle with the windmill follows with Quixote blaming his defeat on his enemy, the Great Enchanter.

“Just then they came in sight of thirty or forty windmills that rise from that plain. And no sooner did Don Quixote see them than he said to his squire, “Fortune is guiding our affairs better than we ourselves could have wished. Do you see over yonder, friend Sancho, thirty or forty hulking giants? I intend to do battle with them and slay them. With their spoils we shall begin to be rich for this is a righteous war and the removal of so foul a brood from the face of the earth is a service God will bless.

‘What giants?’ asked Sancho Panza.

‘Those you see over there,’ replied his master, ‘with their long arms. Some of them have arms well-nigh two leagues in length.’

‘Take care, sir,’ cried Sancho. ‘Those over there are not giants but windmills. Those things that seem to be their arms are sails which, when they are whirled around by the wind, turn the millstone.’”

In a roadside inn—which Quixote insists is really a castle—Aldonza, the inn’s serving girl and part-time prostitute, is being propositioned by a gang of muleteers. Quixote sees her as the dream-ideal whom he will serve forever and insists her name is Dulcinea. Aldonza is confused and angered by Quixote’s refusal to see her as she really is.

The priest and Don Quixote’s physician, Dr. Carrasco, arrive at the inn and are frustrated by Quixote’s lunatic logic. They are interrupted by the arrival of an itinerant barber and Quixote confiscates his shaving basin, believing it is the Golden Helmet of Mambrino. Later Aldonza encounters Quixote in the courtyard where he is holding vigil, in preparation for being knighted by the innkeeper. She questions him on his seemingly irrational ways and Quixote answers her with a statement of his credo, The Impossible Dream.