FIRST OFF . . .

The Denver Center Theatre Co.’s version of “The Man of La Mancha” has Don Quixote on a quest in Central America, tilting at windmills that resemble Uncle Sam and has so angered the play’s creators that they want it shut down. “This vandalizing of the production was done without the permission or knowledge of its authors,” playwright Dale Wasserman said Monday from Denver. The Los Angeles-based Wasserman said he was delegated by lyricist Joe Darion and composer Mitch Leigh to make the trip to see the play first-hand, which he did Saturday. The play, Wasserman said, was “completely politicized, with the U.S. as the villain . . . a nun getting raped . . . and people praying in church while kneeling on cushions filled with American dollars.” Wasserman said that if the theater company doesn’t voluntarily close the production, which has set house records, the trio’s attorneys will “probably” ask for a court injunction to shut down the play, followed by a lawsuit. Denver Theater Co. artistic director Donovan Marley said, “We have no intention of shutting it down. . . . We’d have loved to have their (creators’) approval, and we’re sorry they’re upset, but we consider it a valid piece. I understand their wish to freeze that script in the way it was done 23 years ago, but I just don’t agree.” While one critic dubbed the play “The Man from Managua,” in a review, Denver Post drama critic Alan Stern said his review was “fairly nice,” adding, “I just didn’t think the show had the singers it needed.”