Don Quixote Reviews

Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended

"...Few have entertained more elaborate fantasies than those conjured by that tall, wiry old man of La Mancha known to all as Don Quixote. But even he would have to admit that the beguiling reality of the Joffrey Ballet’s new full-length production that bears his name, now at the Auditorium Theatre, could not possibly be improved upon. It is an altogether enchanting piece of dance theater."

Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended

"... Richly detailed comic support came from Rory Hohenstein’s dandy Gamache and Willy Shives’ obsequious tavern owner, while as the glamorous couple of matador and street dancer, the very tall Fabrice Calmels and charmingly deft Valerie Robin could have escaped from “Carmen” and lost none of their Spanish fire. Christine Rocas as the Dryad Queen (in the dream sequence that follows Don Quixote’s loss of consciousness from an errant windmill) was elegance in action and, as Love herself, Anastacia Holden rose to that marvelous occasion. Not to be left out, Fernando Duarte and Fabio Lo Giudice were self-effacing as the insides of Rocinante, Don Quixote’s faithful steed. Lights down to curtain down, you can’t match “Don Quixote” for pure pleasure. You can only see it."

Chicago Theater Beat - Highly Recommended

"... The valiance and the whimsy that are the cornerstones of the production are crystallized in Cynthia Von Orthal and Tiffany Lange’s adorable, raggedy horse puppet, a four-legged (two-person) creature that embodies the playful spirit of the story as it gambols from one quest to the next. And those quests, in this revised ending, don’t come to a bitter end as a disillusioned Don Quixote declares chivalry dead, Instead, Don Quixote with the Knight Errant raptly engrossed in massive tome of chivalric sagas that launched his adventures. It may not be what Cervantes had in mind, but the Joffrey’s telling of the ancient legend is enthralling nonetheless."