items tagged with Man of La Mancha

Since first experiencing one of Genesius Guild's end-of-season comedies two summers ago, I’ve eagerly anticipated playwright/director Don Wooten’s witty work each subsequent year. His sharp, humorous, sometimes biting rewrites of Aristophanes comedies abound with political, pop-culture, and theatre references at the local and national levels. And while I’ve not had the honor of being personally referenced in one of his jokes – at least not while I was present – this year’s The Frogs features hilariously pointed jabs at almost every theatre company in the Quad Cities area, with Saturday’s performance the funniest of the three annual Guild spoofs I’ve yet seen.

Amidst the laughter that accompanied Saturday night's Lincoln Park presentation of The Frogs, I was especially aware of one particular audience member's vocal enjoyment. He was seated quite a bit away from me, but judging by the timbre, I'd say he was about five or six, and he'd routinely giggle with an involuntary, infectious happiness that made it sound as though he was being tickled. A bunch of us were, actually.