La Mancha

Man of La Mancha has returned to Broadway repeatedly since its 1965 debut. And it has always hewed to the original design and staging. Until now. When the curtain rises on the Broadway-bound production at Washington's National Theatre, it reveals a new look and a cast of actors who bring fresh interpretations to their roles. Although there's some fine-tuning yet to be done, all indications suggest that this retelling of the beloved Don Quixote musical - with a powerhouse company headed by Brian Stokes Mitchell and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio - will be warmly welcomed when it opens in New York Dec. 5. British director Jonathan Kent has not attempted a wholesale re-envisioning.

"Man of La Mancha" is truly an "unreachable star" for most community theater troupes who don't have access to a gifted performer who can bring Miguel de Cervantes' immortal Don Quixote to the stage in a convincing manner. Surely this is one of the toughest roles in the Broadway canon, for it demands a superb high baritone voice attached to an actor accomplished enough to craft three characters and move from one to the other on the fly. Bowie's 2nd Star Productions has access to just such a performer in Braxton Peters, the actor Annapolitans know best as the in-house director of the Annapolis Opera.

"Man of La Mancha" is truly an "unreachable star" for most community theater troupes who don't have access to a gifted performer who can bring Miguel de Cervantes' immortal Don Quixote to the stage in a convincing manner. Surely this is one of the toughest roles in the Broadway canon, for it demands a superb high baritone voice attached to an actor accomplished enough to craft three characters and move from one to the other on the fly. Bowie's 2nd Star Productions has access to just such a performer in Braxton Peters, the actor Annapolitans know best as the in-house director of the Annapolis Opera.

Here we are at the start of another month. March has been the traditional time for kite flying, leprechauns and daffodils, not to mentionspring soccer, lacrosse and baseball practices.On top of the oldstandbys, the Easter bunny and spring break will be making an appearance this month.So relax and take a deep breath before looking at your calendar. It will get better, or so the old sages tell me.*Travel to the sunny, wind-swept hills of 16th-century Spain this weekend as the Drama Club of Northeast High School presents a revival of the musical "Man of La Mancha."

The story of "Don Quixote," that delusional Spaniard who sees windmills as giants and himself as the last of the noble knights, has delighted audiences for nearly 400 years. Even producer Robert Halmi Sr., whose taste for spectacular gimmickry has drained the life out of more than a few classics, can't stop it. Beginning at 8 p.m. Sunday, the latest film adaptation of the Cervantes novel debuts on TNT. And while it's hardly the definitive "Don Quixote," it's an entertaining 2 1/2 hours filled with adventures, dreams and lots of pseudo-jousting.

CARACAS, Venezuela -- The driving is easy. The road is smooth. And then, suddenly, the car spins and swirls out of control as it skates along a layer of goo that mysteriously covers highways here.Venezuelans call the goo La Mancha Negra -- the black stain -- but it's really more like a blob, a thick black sludge with the consistency of chewing gum. No one knows where it comes from. No one knows how to get rid of it.Some say it's oil from lousy asphalt. Others say it's oil from car engines.

Tommy Dell of Westminster downed a can of root beer late Wednesday afternoon while filling a bucket of water for his dairy steer.Keeping cool in the Cow Palace at the Maryland State Fair here was tough last week.The competition was hot, too, but Carroll 4-H'ers sweated it out to win a number of grand champion awards.Dell, 17, had the grand champion dairy steer. His friend, Paul Smith, 14, of New Windsor, hadthe reserve grand champion dairy steer.In another stall at the Cow Palace, Marie Speak, 16, of Taneytown, was tending to her cows.

HOLLY WOERNER, 16, daughter of Paula and Preston Woerner of Forest Hill Road in Eldersburg.School: Junior at the Seton-Keough High School, an archdiocesan Catholic girls' school in Baltimore.Honored for: Placing among the top six at the state finals for the Baltimore Catholic Forensics League recently at Loyola High School in Towson. The league, which includes public as well as Catholic schools, encourages the art of public speaking.Holly, with classmate Corinne Chellis of Baltimore County, will go to the National Catholic Forensics League competition in Oshkosh, Wis., May 26-30.

Olney Theatre Center opens its 2000 season tomorrow with "West Side Story," directed by Bradford Watkins and starring a cast of young area actors headed by Kevin Duda as Tony and Tracy Olivera as Maria. The 1957 modern retelling of "Romeo and Juliet" by Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents will be one of two musicals in the new season. Here's the rest of the lineup: Moliere's "Tartuffe" (April 11-May 14); Noel Coward's "Hay Fever" (May 30-July 1); Potomac Theatre Festival (July 11-Aug.

Before Julian Domenech became headmaster of the Severn School, the native Cuban witnessed the rise of Fidel Castro.Tonight at the school, "Man of LaMancha" will be performed with an altered script influenced by the Cuban revolution.The play, a condensation of Cervantes' "Don Quixote," deals with a man combating disorder and dishonesty in a world of realism, where the dent he makes is small.Mr. Domenech, who escaped to the United States 30 years ago, developed the idea of transforming the play last summer with the director, Eric Van DeVort, a faculty member.