Man Of
Louise Gold
starred, as Aldonza, at The Colchester Mercury Studio Theatre, on Wednesday 25
August 1999
Cast
Carvsntes - Nigel Planer
Aldonza - Louise Gold
Sancho - Wayne Cater
The Governer - David Firth
The Duke - Kieran Creggan
Antonia / Fermina - Justin Koos
Maria / Housekeeper - Tomasin Tresize
Paco / Padre - Oliver Beamish
Pedro / Barber - Michael O’Connor
Anselmo - Dave Ravelle
Production Team
Music - Mitch Leigh
Lyrics - Joe Darion
Original Production - 22 November 1965, ANTA Washington Square Theatre, with Joan Diener (Marre) as Aldonza
Produced by (this production) - Music Theatre London
Director / Musical Director - Tony Britten
Assistant Director - Anthony Banks
This
production was a one-off in front of an invited audience, mainly of investors
of Music Theatre London, with the possibility of mounting a tour of the
production (that did not materialise).
It might be
noted that Louise has rather distinctive red hair. Kim Criswell also has
red hair. A year before this performance of Man Of La Mancha; in
1998, on her solo album Back To Before, Kim Criswell sang What
Does He Want Of Me. At the time she herself had never played Aldonza,
and the composer Mitch Leigh had told her “Aldonza has to have black
hair”, so in the sleeve notes Kim dedicates her performance of this song “to
all the titian-tressed Aldonzas out there and of course to Mitch Leigh”. Incidentally,
about a year later, Kim herself got to play Aldonza, red hair and all, in The
Covent Garden Festival’s production of Man Of La Mancha.
Louise Gold had previously appeared at The Colchester
Mercury Theatre’s main house in When I Was A Girl I
Used To Scream And Shout.
Louise Gold and David Firth had previously appeared
together in The Metropolitan Mikado, a
concert of highlights from the Ratepayers’ Iolanthe
& Metropolitan Mikado, Love life, and, Assassins.
David Firth’s recording credits include On The Town and Anything Goes (recording) - Website Recommended Album
Nigel
Planer went on to take part in Comic
Relif 1986, and, Shopping
With The Stars 2009, his recording credits include Utterly Utterly Live Comic Relief
and The Greatest
Musicals of the 20th Century.
Louise Gold and Wayne Cater had previously appeared
together in the film Topsy Turvy, and on the Topsy Turvy (Soundtrack album).
Links about Man Of
Kieran
Creggan’s Website’s page for this
show: http://homepage.mac.com/kierancreggan/Productions-Theatre/manoflamancha-pr.html from which
most of the information here came.
