On Stage - "Man of La Mancha"

Hey, I've been telling you about the terrific show Man of La Mancha that's on stage tonight at Huntington's City Hall auditorium, but I can also show you.

This is a photo of the title character, Don Quixote, as brought to life by the talented Ryan Hardiman. Is that cool or what?

And you don't have to take my word that it's a great show - here's a letter that ran in yesterday's Herald-Dispatch:

Man of La Mancha was a great show and a treasure of talent to boot. Having seen this 5th Avenue Theatre Company production on Oct. 18, I can attest to the fact that live and lively musical theater is alive and well in Huntington.

I send my kudos to director Eddie Harbert, to leads Marina Jurica and Ryan Hardiman and to the entire cast and crew.

What a joyful enriching experience it was for me and for the rest of the audience, which gave this great production a standing ovation at the curtain call. Bravo and brava to all who had any part in this.

My experiences of having been privileged to see several operas performed by the New York Metropolitan Opera as well as several shows on New York's famed Broadway stages and London, Los Angeles and Atlanta have primed me to say I've never seen better or heard better than the likes of Jurica and Hardiman. The rest of the cast supported those leads so well.

The outstanding musical direction and performance by Mike Campbell and his "side men" was a joy to hear. And the directorial skills of Eddie Harbert should set him up for many future successes, although he has raised the bar for himself with the success of this first directorial effort. I cannot miss mentioning the dancing and singing skills of the rest of the cast, especially my friend Dave Benton.

I hope everyone will be fortunate enough to see this production on either Saturday, Oct. 24 at 8 p.m., or Sunday, Oct. 25, at 2:30 p.m. In my opinion you will never invest your time and your $10 in a better way.

Myron Bailes
Huntington

One small correction to that letter - this isn't Eddie Harbert's first directing job - but it may be one of his best!