A couple of days ago I read another Dickinson Press newspaper article about Stark County Commissioner Ken Zander and his alleged acts of sexual harassment. Though an earlier newspaper article listed the accusations against him, and reported that the investigation concluded that he was not guilty of sexual harassment, this follow-up newspaper article was about a subsequent County Commission meeting where his accuser and her attorney spoke publicly.

I was thinking to myself, that this would make a very good musical or opera. For ages, Greek tragedies, Italian operas, and modern musicals have been about love, romance, debauchery, unrequited love, and public persecutions. This Ken Zander story has every element of a good musical or opera.

I began thinking about how I would write, direct, script, cast, and choreograph this story as a musical or opera. I could not help but begin reviewing in my mind, every musical, ballet, and opera that I had ever seen, to get some ideas on how to do this. I admire Ken Zander, and I would want someone who resembled him to play his part. Then I realized, “Ken Zander is The Man Of La Mancha, as played by Peter O’ Toole!”

As I began watching more movie clips from The Man Of La Mancha as played by Peter O’ Toole, I found what would serve as a good portrayal of Ken Zander’s romantic pursuit of Lisa Heiser, Stark County Parks Director, played by Sophia Loren:

I hope that these ideas will help to put this story and events into better historical perspective.