La Mancha (Spanish pronunciation: [kasˈtiʎa la ˈmantʃa]) is a natural and historical region or greater comarca located on an arid, fertile, elevated plateau (610 m or 2000 ft.) of central Spain, south of Madrid, stretching between the Montes de Toledo and the western spurs of the Serrania de Cuenca. It is bounded on the south by the Sierra Morena and on the north by the La Alcarria region. La Mancha includes portions of the modern provinces of Cuenca, Toledo, and Albacete, and most of the Ciudad Real province. La Mancha historical comarca constitutes the southern portion of Castile–La Mancha autonomous community and makes up most of the present-day administrative region.

The name "La Mancha" is probably derived from the Arab word المنشا al-mansha, meaning "the dry land" or "wilderness". The name of the city of Almansa in Albacete also has the same origin. Broadly, it spans the elevated plateau of central Spain, stretching from the mountains of Toledo to the western spurs of the hills of Cuenca, and borderd to the South by the Sierra Morena and to the North by the Alcarria region.

Linda Eder (born February 3, 1961) is an American singer and actress. She made her Broadway debut in the musical Jekyll & Hyde, for which she received 1997 Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Nominations, as well as the Theatre World Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Eder is also featured on the concept albums of several other Broadway shows, such as The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Civil War. Her name is pronounced "EDD-er".

Eder was born in Tucson, Arizona on February 3, 1961 and raised in Brainerd, Minnesota. Her parents, Georg (from Austria) and Leila (from Norway), exposed her to music at an early age. She cites Judy Garland,Barbra Streisand, and Eileen Farrell as her childhood inspiration. Eder cites Garland, specifically, as her greatest influence.^{[citation needed]}

Before her work on Broadway, Eder gained experience in the entertainment industry. She teamed up with classmate Paul Todd, who had won international awards for his piano and organ playing, and began the "Paul and Linda Show". After the duo went separate ways, Eder was a lounge singer at Harrah's Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Eder next tried her hand at the talent show, Star Search, where her performance caught the notice of Angel Records and, subsequently, Frank Wildhorn. She starred in two 1991 stagings of his musical Svengali, the 1990 World Premiere, 1995-6 National Tour, and 1997 Broadway production of his Jekyll & Hyde, and the 2003 World Premiere of Camille Claudel. The two married in 1998 and divorced in 2004; they have one son, Jake. Eder is a recipient of the Theater World Award (1996–97) for her work in Jekyll & Hyde.

Don Quixote ( /ˌdɒn kiːˈhoʊtiː/; Spanish: [ˈdoŋ kiˈxote] ( listen)), fully titled The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha (Spanish: El ingenioso hidalgo don Quixote de la Mancha), is a novel written by Miguel de Cervantes. The novel follows the adventures of Alonso Quijano, who reads too many chivalric novels, and sets out to revive chivalry under the name of Don Quixote. He recruits a simple farmer, Sancho Panza, as his squire, who frequently deals with Don Quixote's rhetorical orations on antiquated knighthood with a unique Earthy wit. He is met by the world as it is, initiating themes like Intertextuality, Realism, Metatheatre and Literary Representation.

Published in two volumes a decade apart, in 1605 and 1615, Don Quixote is considered the most influential work of literature from the Spanish Golden Age and the entire Spanish literary canon. As a founding work of modern Western literature, and one of the earliest canonical novels, it regularly appears high on lists of the greatest works of fiction ever published. In one such list, Don Quixote was cited as the "best literary work ever written".

Colm Wilkinson (also known as C. T. Wilkinson in Ireland) is an Irish-born Canadian tenor, best known for originating the role of Jean Valjean in Les Misérables (in the West End and Broadway) and for playing the title role in The Phantom of the Opera (at the Sydmonton Festival and in the original Canadian production).

Due to his association with these musicals, he reprised the role of Jean Valjean during the Les Misérables 10th Anniversary Concert (at The Royal Albert Hall), as well as appearing as a special guest at the 25th Anniversary Celebrations of Les Misérables (at the O2 arena) and The Phantom of the Opera (at The Royal Albert Hall).

His versions of both "The Music of the Night" from Phantom and "Bring Him Home" from Les Misérables are acclaimed throughout the world; fans "insist he perform them...at all his concerts."

After playing in several Irish bands (which included The Action), in 1972 Wilkinson was cast as Judas Iscariot in the Dublin production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar; a role he went on to reprise in London and on the British national tour.

Scott Stewart Bakula ( /ˈbækjʊlə/; born October 9, 1955) is an American actor, known for his role as Sam Beckett in the television series Quantum Leap, for which he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama in 1991 and was nominated for four Emmy Awards. He also had a prominent role as Captain Jonathan Archer in Star Trek: Enterprise. Bakula also guest starred in seasons two and three of NBC's Chuck as the title character's father Stephen Bartowski.

Bakula's most recent role was on Desperate Housewives as the lawyer named Trip which happened to be his chief engineer's nickname in Enterprise.

Bakula was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Sally and Stewart J. Bakula, a concert pianist/lawyer. He graduated from Kirkwood High School in Kirkwood, Missouri, in 1973. During high school, he was active in soccer, tennis, and theatre. Also during high school, he had the lead roles in Godspell and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at First Presbyterian Church in Kirkwood. He also played Tevye in an Independent Theatre Production of Fiddler on the Roof at Kirkwood High. Bakula attended college at the University of Kansas until his sophomore year. He was a member of Phi Gamma Delta while attending the University.