DT Correction: 'Aldonza' (Man of la Mancha)

Subject: RE: DT Correction: 'Aldonza' (Man of la Mancha)
From: EBarnacle
Date: 30 Jan 07 - 01:29 PM

Joe, Your transcription of the Broadway cast recording is truer to the script, which I happen to have been reading a few days ago. There are no significant errors in that transcription. eric

Subject: RE: DT Correction: 'Aldonza' (Man of la Mancha)
From: Marc Bernier
Date: 29 Jan 07 - 10:26 AM

She also did it on Broadway a few years bacK opposite Brian Stokes Mitchell.

Subject: RE: DT Correction: 'Aldonza' (Man of la Mancha)
From: GUEST,beachcomber
Date: 28 Jan 07 - 07:19 PM

Did anyone see/hear Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio sing the part of Aldonza in last year's London Staging of this show ?
I thought her singing was wonderful. Never knew she had such a voice !
Having seen her in the movies (Class Action, Robin Hood, The Perfect Storm, etc.,) I was astonished by her vocal range and expertise on stage.

Subject: RE: DT Correction: 'Aldonza' (Man of la Mancha)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 28 Jan 07 - 07:11 PM

I missed that reference to the 1965 Jacques Brel/Joan Diener performance, JJ. I see there are also 1996 (Placido Domingo), 2000 (Covent Garden), and 2002 (Broadway Revival) recordings, and a Spanish recording. Hey, and there's a karaoke version!

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: DT Correction: 'Aldonza' (Man of la Mancha)
From: JJ
Date: 28 Jan 07 - 11:15 AM

The original questioner was not incorrect.

MAN OF LA MANCHA was translated into French in 1965 by Jacques Brel, who also starred in the production opposite (yep!) Joan Diener.

You can find the original French cast recording on Amazon.com. I don't know what the lyrics to "Aldonza" are in French, but you can listen to a snippet.

As has been discussed above, there are several variants in English.

Subject: DT Correction: 'Aldonza' (Man of la Mancha)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 28 Jan 07 - 01:35 AM

I can't say I really like the movie (1972), but here's what Sophia Loren sings (did she do her own singing?):

ALDONZA
(music by Mitch Leigh, lyrics by Joe Darion, 1965)

[Quixote-spoken] "Milady!"
[Aldonza-spoken] "I'm not your lady! I'm not any kind of a lady."


For a lady has modest and maidenly airs
And a virtue a blind man could see that I lack
It's hard to develop these maidenly airs
In a stable, laid flat on your back.

Won't you look at me, look at me
God, won't you look at me?
Look at the kitchen slut, reeking of sweat
Born on a dung heap, to die on a dung heap
A strumpet men use and forget.

If you feel that you see me not quite at my virginal best,
Cross my palm with a coin and I'll willingly show you the rest!

[Quixote-spoken] "Never deny that you are Dulcinea!"
[Aldonza-spoken] "Take the clouds from your eyes and see me as I really am."

You have shown me the sky, but what good is the sky
To a creature who'll never do better than crawl?
Of all the cruel bastards who've badgered and battered me,
You are the cruelest of all.

Can't you see what your gentle insanities do to me?
Rob me of anger and give me despair
Blows and abuse I can take and give back again;
Tenderness I cannot bear.

So, please torture me now with your sweet Dulcineas no more
I am no one, I'm nothing, I am only Aldonza, the whore!

[Quixote-spoken] "Now and forever! you are milady Dulcinea!" (unclear)
[Aldonza-screams]


transcribed from the film soundtrack of Man of La Mancha

---

So, did she do her own singing? Wikipedia says she did, but Peter O'Toole was re-recorded by Simon Gilbert. I suppose that a maturing Sophia Loren (age 38, not THAT old) was a more realistic "Aldonza" than the operatic voice of Joan Diener on the Broadway Cast album - but the Broadway album is the one I listened to over and over again (remembering that date....)
Joan Diener (February 24, 1930 - May 13, 2006) was said to have a 3-1/2 octave vocal range. I suppose her claim to faim is her performance in the 1965 Broadway cast of Man of la Mancha, at the age of 35. At age 62, she succeeded pop singer Sheena Easton in the 1992 Broadway revival. Diener also starred in the original performance of Kismet.

-Joe-

Subject: DT Correction: 'Aldonza' (Man of la Mancha)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 28 Jan 07 - 01:13 AM

OK, here's my transcription:

ALDONZA
(music by Mitch Leigh, lyrics by Joe Darion, 1965)

^^ [Quixote-spoken] "My Lady!"
[Aldonza-spoken] "I am not your lady. I am not any KIND of a lady!"


I was spawned in a ditch
By a mother who left me there
Naked and cold and too hungry to cry
I never blamed her
I'm sure she left hoping
That I'd have the good sense to die.

Then, of course, there's my father
I'm told that young ladies
Can point to their fathers with maidenly pride
Mine was some regiment
Here for an hour
I can't even tell you which side.

So of course, I became, as befitted my delicate birth
The most casual bride of the murdering scum of the earth.

[Quixote-spoken] "And still thou art my lady!"
[Aldonza-spoken] "And still he torments me! How should I be a lady?"

For a lady has modest and maidenly airs
And a virtue I somehow suspect that I lack
It's hard to remember these maidenly airs
In a stable, laid flat on your back.

Won't you look at me, LOOK at me
God, won't you look at me
Look at the kitchen slut, reeking of sweat
Born on a dungheap, to die on a dungheap
A strumpet men use and forget.

If you feel that you see me not quite at my virginal best,
Cross my palm with a coin and I'll willingly show you the rest!

[Quixote-spoken] "Never deny thou art, Dulcinea!"
[Aldonza-spoken] "Take the clouds from your eyes and see me as I really am."

You have shown me the sky, but what good is the sky
To a creature who'll never do better than crawl?
Of all the cruel devils who badgered and battered me,
You are the cruelest of all.

Can't you see what your gentle insanities do to me
Rob me of anger and give me despair
Blows and abuse I can take and give back again;
Tenderness I cannot bear.

So, don't reach out to me when your sweet Dulcinea you call,
I am only Aldonza, I'm no one, I'm nothing at all.

[Quixote-spoken] "Now and forever! thou art my lady Dulcinea!" (unclear)
[Aldonza-screams]


transcribed from the Broadway cast CD of Man of La Mancha


filename[ ALDONZA
MLM
oct99

Subject: RE: DT Corr: 'Aldonza' from the man of la mancha
From: Joe Offer
Date: 28 Jan 07 - 12:46 AM

You know, I have to say that I'm a little disappointed to see that LaMarca, one of my Idols of song, actually forgot two lines. I have long been under the illusion that LaMarca could do no wrong. Worse yet, LaMarca's 1997 forgetfulness made it into the 1999 Digital Tradition, and hasn't been corrected. Sol 'Roundman' Weber was bothered by this shortcoming, and e-mailed the missing couplet to Sandy Paton, who e-mailed it to me. It's in bold italics below. But then we have LaMarca's unattached verse, and the song isn't attributed in the DT, and maybe we'd better check the rest to make sure everything is right.
If you can submit a completely correct text, please do - but please post the whole song, not just the corrections.
I suppose there are better musicals, but this may be my all-time favorite. On my first date ever in my life, we went to a live performance of the Man of La Mancha road show in Milwaukee - about 1968, I think. Her last name was something French and she was a counselor at the camp where I worked. She was very nice, and I was clumsy and nervous - that's all I remember.
-Joe-



ALDONZA'S SONG

I was spawned in a ditch
By a mother who left me there
Naked and cold and too hungry to cry
I never blamed her
I'm sure she left hoping
That I'd have the good sense to die.

Then, of course, there's my father
I'm told that young ladies
Can point to their fathers with maidenly pride
Mine was some regiment
Here for an hour
I can't even tell you which side.

So of course, I became, as befitted my delicate birth
The most casual bride, of the murdering scum of the earth.

Spoken: Don Quixote ""But still thou art my lady""

Aldonza: ""A LADY! How should I be a lady?""

For a lady has modest and maidenly airs
And a virtue I somehow suspect that I lack
It's hard to remember those maidenly airs
In a stable, laid flat on your back.

Don't you see what your tender insanities do to me
Rob me of anger and give me despair
(Memory lapse here for last two lines of verse)
Blows and abuse I can take and give back again;
Tenderness I cannot bear.


Won't you look at me, LOOK at me
God, won't you look at me
Look at the kitchen slut, reeking of sweat
Born on a dungheap, to die on a dungheap
A strumpet men use and forget.

So please torture me now, with your sweet Dulcineas no more
I'm no-one, I'm NOTHING, I'm only Aldonza, the whore!"

filename[ ALDONZA
XX
oct99

Subject: RE:
From: LaMarca
Date: 19 Mar 97 - 09:33 AM

Oops - one more missing verse re-emerged from the murky depths last night:

You have shown me the sky, but what good is the sky/ To a creature who'll never do better than crawl/ Of all the cruel bastards/ Who've bruised and who've battered me/ You are the cruelest of all.

I'm not sure of the proper order for the last three verses; it's been at least 20 years since I heard the song...

Subject: RE:
From: LaMarca
Date: 18 Mar 97 - 05:59 PM

I'll try to dredge this one up from memories of my mis-spent youth (as a listener to Broadway musical records albums owned by my neighbor, not as a member of the oldest profession...) I hope this is what you're looking for; I didn't know Jacques Brel was associated with this.

Aldonza's Song

I was spawned in a ditch/By a mother who left me there/ Naked and cold and too hungry to cry/I never blamed her/ I'm sure she left hoping/ That I'd have the good sense to die.

Then, of course, there's my father/ I'm told that young ladies/ Can point to their fathers with maidenly pride/ Mine was some regiment/Here for an hour/I can't even tell you which side.

So of course, I became, as befitted my delicate birth/ The most casual bride, of the murdering scum of the earth.

Spoken: Don Quixote "But still thou art my lady"

Aldonza: "A LADY! How should I be a lady?"

For a lady has modest and maidenly airs/And a virtue I somehow suspect that I lack/It's hard to remember those maidenly airs/ In a stable, laid flat on your back.

Don't you see what your tender insanities do to me/ Rob me of anger and give me despair/ (Memory lapse here for last two lines of verse)

Won't you look at me, LOOK at me/ God, won't you look at me/ Look at the kitchen slut, reeking of sweat/ Born on a dungheap, to die on a dungheap/ A strumpet men use and forget.

So please torture me now, with your seet Dulcineas no more/ I'm no-one, I'm NOTHING, I'm only Aldonza, the whore!

Subject: lyrics to "Aldonza"
From:
Date: 17 Mar 97 - 10:37 PM

Hello, I'm looking for the lyrics to "Aldonza" in the man of la mancha - musical comedy - adaptation by Jacques Brel. Thank you.