Legal native shines bright in new musical

Man of La Mancha may be brave. He may be foolhardy or even quixotic. But when he sings The Impossible Dream, the windmill jousting hero and self-styled gentleman lifts us into a realm of grandeur that only dreams can concoct.

Noble to some, hokey to others, this Tony award-winning musical debuts in French at L'UniThéâtre at La CitĂ© francophone on Thursday and runs for two successive weekends.

Set during the Spanish Inquisition in the late 1500s, L’Homme de la Mancha tells the story of Miguel Cervantes, a tax collector/soldier/playwright who is thrown into prison and charged with foreclosing on a monastery.

His fellow inmates take his possessions and threaten to toss his manuscript into a fire. To save his novel, he asks to re-enact the adventures of Don Quixote complete with costumes from a battered trunk.

Don Quixote’s vision of the world is a realm apart, a place where chivalry and courage are espoused to assist the vulnerable and downtrodden. It flew in the face of 16th century political values and continues to do so today, says director Guido Tondino.

“The play flies in the face of politics today. It speaks to people suffering financially or physically and it provides an enormous amount of hope.”

Tondino, a design graduate from the National Theatre School, spent years working as a freelance artist across North America and Europe before moving to Edmonton several years ago.

When L'UniThéâtre’s former artistic director Daniel Cournoyer stepped into the directorship of La CitĂ© francophone, Tondino was asked to helm the Jacques Brel translation.

So far most of the musical’s challenges are tied to the rich layers and complex structure Cervantes created when he penned Don Quixote.

But Tondino credits his extraordinary bilingual actors for stripping away the layers of realism and fantasy to create believable characters in a sweeping love story.

One of the richest roles is the female lead of Aldonza, a servant/prostitute played by JoĂ«lle PrĂ©fontaine, one of Legal’s bright lights.

Not only is Préfontaine required to act, but she also sings a high A and performs stage combat with equal ease.

“Joelle has such power, presence and grace, you believe everything she has experienced. For someone so young, she gives so much wisdom.”

A drama graduate from the University of Alberta, Préfontaine has never fit the ingénue mould. Aldonza is a lower class cast-off, a woman forced to be tough on the outside but is extraordinarily vulnerable in the inside. And Préfontaine allows her character to shine in the song Why Does He Do These Things.

But Aldonza is also a kick-butt gal who doesn’t hesitate to use a wine bottle to defend herself and Don Quixote.

“What I take away from Aldonza is that as a woman prisoner in Spain, she probably won’t get out. But Cervantes’ character of Don Quixote has given the prisoners hope and whether you win or lose makes no difference. What matters is the journey.”