To be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause! Surely that’s everyone’s feeling on Tech-week Tuesday when it comes to any production, but particularly that of Third Wall Productions’ Man of La Mancha. In the penultimate installment of the “Dreaming the Impossible Dream” series, we feature members of the ensemble, the horse, the good Duke & Doctor, and the innkeeper’s wife.

Give us the introductory rundown of who you are, the last thing you did on/around/adjacent to a stage, and who you are playing in this show and we’ll get going.

Maggie Flanigan: I’m Maggie Flanigan, I am the horse, and the most recent thing I did was Stage Manage Lizzie with Guerrilla Theatre Front.

Emily Machovec: I am Emily Machovec, I play Maria, the innkeeper’s wife, and the last thing I did was Into the Woods at Phoenix Festival Theatre. I was Rapunzel.

Henry Cyr: Hi, I’m Henry Cyr and I’m playing the Duke and Doctor Carrasco. And the last thing I did was here at Third Wall, I played Leo Bloom in The Producers.

Valerie Foxburrow: I’m Valerie Foxburrow, I’m in the ensemble, and the last thing I did was Willy Wonka with Charm City Players.

What is your personal impossible dream?

Maggie: Oooh. Um…it’s probably for Guerrilla Theatre Front to be an actual company and run by itself.

Emily: I have no idea. Can I make something up? Let’s see… I wish I could speak Spanish fluently without having to study it for hours and hours.

Henry: This is probably really trivial but I’d like to have a beer in each of the 50 states.

Valerie: I don’t know if I’m allowed to say this, but my impossible dream would be to be able to love people the way that Jesus does.

What does it mean to you to live the impossible dream?

Maggie: To me as a performer it’s just putting your best foot forward at every performance and going as hard as you can and just being the best you can be in every moment of the production.

Emily: I think it’s a really important story to tell and a good message to get out there. You can achieve whatever you want if you put your mind to it.

Henry: As a performer, especially in a show like this, it’s to bring everyone on the journey with us. It’s such an incredible story and we only get there by sharing it all together. It truly is a big ensemble piece and its nice to have all of us putting all of our energy together towards the same goal.

Valerie: Are you talking about the impossible dream that we are portraying on stage?

You can take that question in whatever vein that works for you— on stage, off stage, in the show, out of the show, whatever works for you.

Valerie: Okay, it’s knowing that I’m not able to do certain things within my own power and attempting to do them nevertheless.

Why should people come and see Third Wall’s Man of La Mancha?

Maggie: Because you get to see some amazing performers and some kick-ass puppetry mask-making from the amazing Tara Cariaso at Wax Moon Masks.

Emily: Like Henry said a moment ago, it’s a nice ensemble piece so you see everybody kind of working together. I think it’s going to be a good performance.

Henry: Yeah, it’s such a great show and it’s not done enough. So I’m very excited that we’re doing it here at Third Wall. And like Maggie said, there are some incredible performances that people can’t wait to see.

Valerie: It’s a beautiful classic and not to repeat everybody, but the leads are incredible.  

Man of La Manchaopens on Friday November 8, 2019 and plays through November 17, 2019 with Third Wall Productions at St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church— 1108 Providence Road in Towson, MD. Tickets are available for purchase at the door or in advance online.

To read Part 1 of the Dreaming The Impossible Dream Series, click here.

To read Part 2 of the Dreaming The Impossible Dream Series, click here.

To read Part 3 of the Dreaming The Impossible Dream Series, click here.

To read Part 4 of the Dreaming The Impossible Dream Series, click here.