Set in the context of the Spanish Inquisition, Man of La Mancha is presented as a play-within-a-play. There he is dragged before a kangaroo court of his fellow prisoners, who plan to confiscate his few possessions—including the uncompleted manuscript of a novel, Don Quixote. At this point, the Don Quixote play is brutally interrupted when the Inquisition enters the dungeon and drags off an unwilling prisoner to be tried.
Quixote, unaware of this, contemplates his recent victory and new knighthood ("The Impossible Dream" – first reprise). Based on The Adventures of Don Quixote, by Miguel the Cervantes y Saavedra, Man of La Mancha is a comic tragedy of mankind's struggle to better both himself and the world in which he lives. Synopsis Man of La Mancha, based on Cervantes’ epic 17th-century novel, Don Quixote, is a remarkable, poignant, moving musical that was one of the first shows to musicalize a piece of historical literature. The Innkeeper (played by The Governor) humors Don Quixote as best he can. They prepare to burn his manuscript when he asks for the chance to present one last scene. The priest and Dr. Carrasco arrive, but cannot reason with Don Quixote. He insults Aldonza, so Quixote challenges him to combat. Just like its source material, “Don Quixote” by Miguel de Cervantes, “Man of La Mancha” is about any time of political unrest—particularly in the 1960s when it was written—and it is about the responsibility of each of us to make the world a better place than we found it. Cervantes announces that the story is finished, but the prisoners are dissatisfied with the ending. He enjoys reading almost incessantly. He is now sane: he gives his name as Alonso Quijano and thinks his knightly career was just a dream. Don Quixote has no martial skill, but by luck and determination – and with the help of Aldonza and Sancho – he prevails, and the muleteers are all knocked unconscious. The Innkeeper does so ("Knight of the Woeful Countenance"). The Don Quixote play resumes ("Man of La Mancha" – first reprise). Suddenly, he remembers everything and rises from his bed, calling for his armor and sword so that he may set out again ("Man of La Mancha" – second reprise). 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. He eventually goes mad from reading too many books of chivalry (which were in vogue then) and decides to become a knight-errant himself - Don Quixote de la Mancha. They are accused of presenting an entertainment offensive to the Inquisition.
Enraged, Don Quixote takes him and all the other muleteers on in a fight ("The Combat"). 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.
Meanwhile, Antonia, Don Quixote's niece, has gone with Quixote's housekeeper to seek advice from the local priest, who realizes that the two women are more concerned with the embarrassment Quixote's madness may bring them than with his actual welfare ("I'm Only Thinking of Him"). He is no longer young. Man of La Mancha is a 1965 musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion, and music by Mitch Leigh. He announces himself as Don Quixote's mortal enemy, the Enchanter, in the form of the "Knight of the Mirrors". Quixote decides that he lost the battle because he was never properly knighted. Quixote sees Aldonza and declares that she is his lady, Dulcinea, to whom he has sworn eternal loyalty ("Dulcinea"). Aldonza encounters Quixote in the courtyard and confronts him; Quixote does his best to explain the ideals he follows and the quest he is on ("The Impossible Dream"). The funny story of mad but kind and chivalrous elderly nobleman Don Quixote who, aided by his squire Sancho Panza, fights windmills that are seen as dragons to save prostitute Dulcinea who is seen as a noblewoman.This musical version of Don Quixote is framed by an incident allegedly from the life of its author, Miguel de Cervantes.
The Duke taunts Cervantes for his look of fear, and accuses him of not facing reality. The Knight of the Mirrors and his attendants bear huge mirrored shields, and as they swing them at Quixote ("Knight of the Mirrors"), the glare blinds him. When Cervantes started writing he intended a satirical burlesque of the then fashionable novels of chivalry; gradually the author's sympathies changed, ad the novel developed into a deeper, broader and more …