HTC Takes On The Impossible Dream … Its First Ever Fully Staged Musical

“This is my best acting,” said Hampton Theater Company’s artistic director Diana Marbury calmly when reached by phone last week. “Are you kidding? I’m terrified. It’s a week away and we’re in the hopeful phase that the gods of theater will protect us and bring it all together.”

Ms. Marbury was speaking in her role as director of HTC’s upcoming production “The Man of La Mancha” which opens Thursday at Quogue Community Hall. She has good reason to be nervous. Not only does the play feature a cast of 12—enormous by typical HTC standards—but it also has a six-piece orchestra as well.

“It’s been a matter of juggling to keep the balls in the air,” said Ms. Marbury. “Fortunately, we have an awesome musical director—Amy MacGrath—who came out of retirement to do this show.

“She taught Matt Conlon at Sayville High and convinced him to do his first musical,” added Ms. Marbury referring to the young man who will play the role of Cervantes/Quixote in this production. “They’re back together again.”

Set in a dungeon and designed as a play within a play, “Man of La Mancha,” which premiered on Broadway in 1965, was inspired by the 17th century novel “Don Quixote.” It features a book by Dale Wasserman, music by Joe Darion and lyrics by Mitch Leigh.

Yes, this is a musical (by the way, the first fully-staged one in HTC’s 34-year history) and as reflected in the lyrics of the show’s most famous song, it has long been “the impossible dream.” When asked why the HTC artistic committee decided to produce this musical at this time, Ms. Marbury explained that though the idea had been floated many times before, the cost of paying the actors as well as the show rights was daunting.

“It’s a very extensive undertaking and a bigger cast with a musical director added to the picture,” she said. “We’re so good at straight plays, we thought, why fix it if it ain’t broke?”

But a musical is something that loyal HTC audiences have been clamoring for. Enter Ed Brennan, a longtime HTC board member and experienced director with a musical theater background. Ms. Marbury calls him the “go to guy for musicals,” and for that reason, Mr. Brennan was initially tapped to direct “The Man of La Mancha” and he began the rehearsal process.

“Then Ed went and left,” said Ms. Marbury, explaining that Mr. Brennan received an enticing job offer from a firm in Florida and several weeks ago, relocated to the Sunshine State.

“I got a call in Costa Rica, where I was visiting my son and his family, saying you have to take this on,” said Ms. Marbury, who admitted that she was the one who pushed to do this show. Now that she’s in it, she’s having a marvelous time with it. “It’s a delight. We have such wonderful singers for this production. I was totally involved in the audition process, so I was familiar with most of the people.”

She adds that the difficulty has come in terms of her and Mr. Brennan’s very different directing philosophies.

“Ed’s laid back and praises everybody. That’s not my style,” she said. “At first, there was a little push back because my technique is different. Initially I was nervous how I would be received, but this is a professional group and we’re working through that.”

A large part of Ms. Marbury’s process is spending time talking with the cast members around a table, gauging the actors’ feelings about the other characters in the cast.

“I like to get into the material. I love the exploration,” she said, noting that she is able to focus on the script like she would a straight play thanks to Ms. McGrath taking on the musical director role.

“It’s really a directing job. I’m not so uncomfortable with that, it’s just the size of it all,” she added. “We have a small stage. Fortunately, the action takes place in a dungeon and the fantasy is created within that.

“We’re having a great exploration,” said Ms. Marbury. “Now let’s get the job done.”

An impossible dream no more.

“Man of La Mancha” opens Thursday, March 21 at the Quogue Community Hall and runs through April 7 with shows on Thursdays and Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. An additional matinee performance will be offered during the final weekend of the production, on Saturday, April 6, prior to the regular 8 p.m. performance that evening.

The play stars Matthew Conlon in the role of Cervantes/Quixote and Jessica Howard doubling as the Housekeeper and the Innkeeper’s Wife. Rick Grossman is making his debut on the Quogue stage by reprising the role of Sancho, which he played in the recent Broadway national tour of “Man of La Mancha.” Rounding out the cast are Anthony Arpino, Kyle Breitenbach, Andrew Gasparini, Michael Sean Jones, James M. Lotito Jr., Joe Mankowski, Alyssa Marino, Nora Moutrane, and Elora Von Rosch.

Special dinner theater packages are offered in collaboration with the Westhampton, Southampton, Hampton Bays and Quogue libraries, as is a lunch theater package with Quogue Club at Hallock House for the Saturday matinee on April 6. Visit hamptontheatre.org or contact the libraries for details.