Birmingham Village Players present classic ‘Man of La Mancha’

BIRMINGHAM — The Birmingham Village Players are kicking off their 103rd season with a classic musical that has touched audiences’ hearts for over 60 years: “Man of La Mancha.”

The show — directed by Susan Chekaway and Roberta Campion — will run 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays Sept. 12-28 at the Birmingham Village Players, 34660 Woodward.

“Man of La Mancha” is a musical with both comedic relief and dark themes. The plot takes place in 17th century Spain and is centered around Miguel de Cervantes, who is imprisoned during the Spanish Inquisition and performs his manuscript about Don Quixote de La Mancha with the other inmates. It is a play within a play.

“Man of La Mancha” is for mature audiences only due to the show’s adult situations, language and violence, including depictions of sexual assault.

Jude Purcell, of Clawson, plays the lead role, Miguel de Cervantes/Don Quixote. This has been a bucket list role for Purcell ever since he became a fan of the musical in college.

The first production he ever did with the Birmingham Village Players was “Man of La Mancha” 21 years ago, and he recalls a memory of when he first decided to audition for it after someone at his work told him that there was going to be a local production.

“I was eating dinner, and I was looking up the audition dates for that show, and I saw that they were that night, and the audition started at seven o’clock, and it was seven o’clock when I was looking at it. So I threw my dinner in the fridge — I hadn’t eaten much all day — and I rushed to the theater.”

He said he remembers vividly the people he met that day at the Birmingham Village Players, and they gave him a role as a muleteer.

Now in the lead role,  Purcell is taking an intentional approach to properly convey the show’s important themes and complex characters.

“I’d like to be able to communicate the message as clearly as possible to the audience and have some fun doing it, because I think it’s a very fun character, and it’s got a lot of sides to it,” Purcell said.

Purcell was also inspired to make a wood carving statue of Don Quixote, even though he had no prior experience in wood carving. He shares how the statue ties in to the show’s major theme of “appearance is not reality.”

“To one person, it may be a block of wood. To another person, it may be a statue,” Purcell said.

Jennifer Jones, of Rochester Hills, is playing the role of Aldonza/Dulcinea. This will be the third time in 21 years that Jones takes the stage in this role — the last time being in the same Birmingham Village Players production as Purcell.

“I consider myself so blessed and so lucky to be able to portray her again. And I’d like to think that maybe my life experiences will add more to it,” Jones said.

After playing the role three times in her life, Jones knows this character very well.

“I love her passion, and I love her strength. She overcomes so many things throughout the show,” Jones said.

Jones has recently had to overcome a lot in her life, with the loss of many people close to her, including her husband, who passed in 2022. When Jones played this role at the Village Players previously, her husband played Pedro, the head muleteer. This is her first leading role since her husband’s passing.

“You have to drive forward and you have to become stronger and overcome these obstacles,” Jones said. “Unfortunately, all of us have to overcome at some point in our life.”

The “impossible dream” is a major theme in the show, which Jones connects back to Aldonza’s feats of overcoming.

“She overcomes these hardships and this abuse, and I think that, in doing so, both Aldonza’s world and in my own world, that it is the ultimate triumph in our own ability to survive the worst things in life. And because of that, Aldanza is better able to see and experience the imaginary world through Quixote’s eyes and what he sees and believes. I’d like to think that in our own lives, when we overcome those obstacles, that we’re able to see the light at the end of the tunnel, that there is hope, there are people there for us, and just reaching that final step, that final phase, being past all of those hardships in life, is almost obtaining our impossible dream.”

Individuals can reserve tickets for $30, which includes a ticketing fee. To purchase tickets, call the box office at (248) 644-2075 or visit birminghamvillageplayers.com.