May I share a very warm moment in the Opera House, back in 1983, when Richard Kiley took “Man of La Mancha” on his third and last revival…My wife (Pat) and I where stationed in Newport R.I.. We had just had our only child (then 13 mos. old), and I was in the middle of my Navy career. Actually, I was torn between getting out or staying in and making a go of it. Anyway, things were kind of crazy…the orders to Navy Electronics School that I had been working for, where not coming in. As well, the water pump and alternator on our car had decided to fail, just 76 miles after the warranty expired! And of course it was one of the hardest winters in the great north east! That I should be lying in the snow to fix the car! So, you say? What does this have to do with the Boston Opera House??? Well, one night Patty, Adeline and myself are at the table having dinner…and Patty says to our daughter “Ya think dad needs to perk-up?!?!”. The kid just giggled, as her mashed green beans went flying across the room. Before I could respond, Pat got up from the table and went up to our bedroom. When she returned, she told me that she had been trying to think of something to get me out of my “funk”…and continued to explain that before I opened the envelope, that she was just about certain the contents would help. Well, my friends the contents were two tickets, front row-center, for opening night…of Richards LAST Impossible Dream.
Ya see, I had spoken to my best friend (at that time, of four years), many, many times about when my cousin and I went to see Mr. Kiley do his very FIRST Broadway revival (1972) of that great show. Well, Patty and I have been best friends for going on thirty years now. I ended up staying in the Navy and retired in 1990. My second best friend just recently got married (Feb 08), and has heard this story…a number of times, I’m sure.
Point is folks, it was at The Opera House, that opening night when “Aldonza/Dulcinea”, along with the rest of the cast…stepped forward on the stage, as “Cervantes” and his side-kick did mount the drawbridge-like staircase to go to their impending trial, as the prisoners sang The Impossible Dream.
Thank You Richard and cast, and thank you Boston Opera House.
May I share a very warm moment in the Opera House, back in 1983, when Richard Kiley took “Man of La Mancha” on his third and last revival…My wife (Pat) and I where stationed in Newport R.I.. We had just had our only child (then 13 mos. old), and I was in the middle of my Navy career. Actually, I was torn between getting out or staying in and making a go of it. Anyway, things were kind of crazy…the orders to Navy Electronics School that I had been working for, where not coming in. As well, the water pump and alternator on our car had decided to fail, just 76 miles after the warranty expired! And of course it was one of the hardest winters in the great north east! That I should be lying in the snow to fix the car! So, you say? What does this have to do with the Boston Opera House??? Well, one night Patty, Adeline and myself are at the table having dinner…and Patty says to our daughter “Ya think dad needs to perk-up?!?!”. The kid just giggled, as her mashed green beans went flying across the room. Before I could respond, Pat got up from the table and went up to our bedroom. When she returned, she told me that she had been trying to think of something to get me out of my “funk”…and continued to explain that before I opened the envelope, that she was just about certain the contents would help. Well, my friends the contents were two tickets, front row-center, for opening night…of Richards LAST Impossible Dream.
Ya see, I had spoken to my best friend (at that time, of four years), many, many times about when my cousin and I went to see Mr. Kiley do his very FIRST Broadway revival (1972) of that great show. Well, Patty and I have been best friends for going on thirty years now. I ended up staying in the Navy and retired in 1990. My second best friend just recently got married (Feb 08), and has heard this story…a number of times, I’m sure.
Point is folks, it was at The Opera House, that opening night when “Aldonza/Dulcinea”, along with the rest of the cast…stepped forward on the stage, as “Cervantes” and his side-kick did mount the drawbridge-like staircase to go to their impending trial, as the prisoners sang The Impossible Dream.
Thank You Richard and cast, and thank you Boston Opera House.