VIDEO: On This Day, December 5- MAN OF LA MANCHA Dreams the Impossible Dream on Broadway!

Today we celebrate the Broadway production of Man of La Mancha, which debuted on this day in 2002.

Man of La Mancha is the story of one man's quest to dream "The Impossible Dream" of a world where honor and salvation prevail.

Based on The Adventures of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra, Man of La Mancha is a comic tragedy of mankind's struggle to better both himself and the world in which he lives. In this soaring musical by Dale Wasserman, Cervantes and his servant, Sancho, are cast into prison by the Spanish Inquisition. In order to win his personal effects back from the thieves and robbers in the prison, Cervantes enlists the inmates' assistance in telling the tale of this "Knight of the Woeful Countenance" who tilts at windmills and champions lost causes.

The original production starred Broadway favorite, Brian Stokes Mitchell as Don Quixote. The role earned him a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical.

Dubbed "the last leading man" by The New York Times, Brian Stokes Mitchell has enjoyed a career that spans Broadway, television, film, and concert appearances with the country's finest conductors and orchestras. His Broadway career includes performances in Man of La Mancha (Tony Award nomination and Helen Hayes Award); Kiss Me, Kate (Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards); Ragtime (Tony nomination); August Wilson's King Hedley II (Tony nomination); Kiss of the Spider Woman; Jelly's Last Jam; Lincoln Center Theater's Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown; Oh, Kay!; and Mail, which earned him a Theatre World Award for outstanding Broadway debut.

To celebrate, check out Brian singing the musical's most iconic song, "The Impossible Dream" on the 2003 Tony Awards.