I, Don Quixote

I, Don Quixote is a 1959 teleplay first broadcast on the CBS anthology series DuPont Show of the Month. Written by Dale Wasserman, the play was later converted by Wasserman into the libretto for the musical Man of La Mancha, with songs by Mitch Leigh and Joe Darion.

I Don Quixote has almost exactly the same plot and even much of the same dialogue as Man of La Mancha. Even the famous opening two lines of the hit song The Impossible Dream]] were actually written by Wasserman, and not by lyricist Darion:

To dream the impossible dream, To fight the unbeatable foe.

I, Don Quixote starred Lee J. Cobb in the dual role of Miguel de Cervantes and Don Quixote, Colleen Dewhurst (in her first major role) as Aldonza/Dulcinea), Eli Wallach as Sancho Panza, and Hurt Hatfield as Sanson Carrasco as well as a character called The Duke.

Plot

The plot is more or less the same as "Man of La Mancha". Cervantes and his manservant have been thrown into a dungeon by the Spanish Inquisition for an offense against the Church. In prison, a mock trial is staged, with the intention of the prisoners robbing Cervantes of all of his possessions, including a precious manuscript that he refuses to give up. It is, of course, the manuscript of Don Quixote de la Mancha, Cervantes's masterpiece. In defending himself, Cervantes presents his story of Don Quixote, with the role of Sancho enacted by his own manservant, and the other characters in the story played by the other prisoners. Unlike the musical, however, Cervantes does not suggest putting on a play inside the prison, nor does he put on the Don Quixote makeup before the prisoners' eyes, as he does in the musical. The play simply segues into the story of Don Quixote, with Lee J. Cobb playing the role. The teleplay also includes many adventures from the Cervantes novel which had to be left out of Man of La Mancha due to time constraints.

Reception

The play was highly acclaimed, but, oddly enough, did not win Emmys. After its telecast, Dale Wasserman optioned it for Broadway. Director Albert Marre finally read it and suggested that it should be turned into a musical, which, of course, is exactly what happened, and the rest is history.

=Source

Wasserman, Dale, The Impossible Musical: The 'Man of La Mancha' Story