Dr. Andre Jakubow

My name is Andre Jakubow.  I’m in grade 13 here at Gloucester High School, and I’ll be 18 years old when we perform in May.  My courses this year include OAC Algebra/Geometry, English, Music and AP Chemistry.  I’m a member of the school’s Senior Concert Band, where I play Percussion and/or Tenor Sax (ohhh yyyeah!).  Participating in Forty-Second Street at GHS two years ago was one of the highlights of my high school experience, so I decided to audition for a small role in Man of La Mancha this year.  I’m glad to say I got a part: Anselmo the muleteer.  I’m sure he’ll be an interesting, fun character to portray.  Except, of course, when he’s kicked in the groin by Aldonza.  (Hmm, I wonder if the production budget includes some kind of protection for me…)

Previous musical/acting experience:

  • Forty-Second Street (May 1998) at Gloucester High School:
  • Also appeared as Floor Director in Joël, Todd and Jon’s Breakdancing Video;
  • Appeared in several small productions in Ukrainian school.

Other Interests:

  • Cycling
  • Soccer
  • Japanese language!!
  • Concert band
  • long walks on th… oh wait this isn’t that profile.
  • Aviation
  • Amateur video production
  • PLAST member
  • The Simpsons (!!)
  • Reading

Character Biography: Anselmo is a rough, lewd man.  A prisoner in the common room, his ‘game’ used to be stealing canaries and then trying to sell them (without a permit).  He grew up in a small village not unlike the inn we are introduced to by Don Miguel de Cervantes as the setting for the story.  Anselmo’s parents left him at an orphanage at the age of two, for lack of money and resources.  He learned to read (somewhat badly) from posters and food packaging in and around his village.  At the age of twelve, he was expelled from the orphanage for fighting with another child over a slingshot he’d found.
He and his new-found love interest, Señorita Juanita Perez, ended up in jail when they snuck into a rich man’s house and Juanita tripped on his chihuahua, Chico.  Somehow in the vicious struggle that ensued, Anselmo flung the small barking dog across the room onto the rich man’s personal bodyguard, who had been sleeping in a chair and was quite unhappy to be awakened.  The couple tried to plead for mercy from the bodyguard, but they were unsuccessful.
Anselmo is a very possessive man, and he often gets enraged by Perez’s incessant flirtation with the other prisoners, but somehow when she smiles, he always manages to forgive her.
Though initially not at all impressed with Cervantes and his friend Sancho’s appearance, Anselmo volunteers to play a part in Cervantes’ story, for they seem much more entertaining than most new prisoners, and he thinks that taking part in their play will help him pass the time.
Like many of the corrupted characters in Man of La Mancha, he has a total disregard for the dignity of human beings, especially women.  He treats Aldonza like a piece of meat, to use the cliché.  This suits him fine; to Anselmo, a person is only worth what they can give him.  Hence, he follows Pedro around like a mutt follows his dinner, though they are more ‘partners in crime’ than friends.  In truth, Anselmo has never been successful with women, but, as he says, “Who needs a wife?  I’ve got Aldonza.”