Ojai Valley School’s very own digital design, photography, and AP Art with an emphasis on 2D photography teacher, John Boyd, recently played guitar in 15 sold-out shows of the musical Man of La Mancha.
Man of La Mancha is based off of a book written in 1965 by Dale Wasserman about Don Quixote- an uplifting tale based on a true story.
The director of the play initially reached out to Mr. Boyd in hopes he would play the synthesizer in the orchestra; but, when Mr. Boyd showed interest in the guitar, he became the orchestra’s full-time guitar player. The director was taking a leap of faith when he switched Mr. Boyd, but his leap paid off when he first heard Mr. Boyd play.
It wasn’t just a leap of faith for the director; Man of La Mancha was Mr. Boyd’s first time playing guitar in a live production.
“I listened to the CD a lot before the show, because it was an instrument that I hadn’t played much for musicals, so I wanted to get it right,” Mr. Boyd explained of the production which was staged at the Ojai Art Center Theater.
The show skyrocketed in Ojai, selling out a total of fifteen shows spanning five weekends. Each show was sold-out with approximately 120 people in attendance. The show’s orchestra only rehearsed three times, for 4 hours each time, because, as professional musicians, they were expected to pick it up quickly.
Mr. Boyd’s favorite part of being involved in a musical like this was the spontaneity of each show. Because every show was live, he felt that you could never get bored and could improve something each and every time.
“I would absolutely do it again, if they would’ve said ‘hey, can you do two more weekends?’ I would’ve said absolutely,” Mr. Boyd said.