Ron Raines has tilted at windmills before, in 1994, the same year his career “took a left turn” from stage to screen, and he was cast as “Guiding Light’s” villainous Alan Spaulding, a role that would last 19 years. And now he’s at it again, starring as the impossible dreamer of “Man of La Mancha” for Pittsburgh CLO.

Playing Aldonza/Dulcinea to Mr. Raines’ Don Quixote is Jackie Burns, whose most recent Broadway credit is “If/Then,” as a standby for Idina Menzel. This is her first go-round with the musical based on the Miguel de Cervantes novel about a man imprisoned by the Spanish Inquisition who performs his play for murderous inmates. It tells the story of an aging man who believes he’s a knight errant on a quest with manservant Sancho (Broadway veteran Greg Hildreth).

Along the way they meet the prostitute Aldonza, whom Don Quixote sees as the great lady Dulcinea. The show, featuring “The Impossible Dream,” was crowned best musical at the 1966 Tony Awards, and PCLO performed it in 1985 and ’95. Mr. Raines said that he was asked to appear in the 1995 production, but “Guiding Light” got in the way.

“I recorded it in London [in 2000, with the BBC Concert Orchestra], so this is really my second time,” said Mr. Raines, who previously was in “Annie” and “South Pacific” for PCLO. “As I was telling Jackie, it stays with you. The character is still in your DNA somewhere. You just have to pull it out.”

Ms. Burns, just back from her long-delayed honeymoon with actor John Selya, was learning on the job during the whirlwind rehearsal. After life on the road and on Broadway as “Wicked’s” Elphaba, this is her first summer stock job in seven years. 

Mr. Raines, sporting a shaved head that may fool Alan Spaulding fans, is choosy about what he does these days. After six Broadway shows (most recently “Annie” and “Newsies”), a quick run in Pittsburgh was appealing, even a show that Richard Kiley, Broadway’s original Don Quixote, told him “was the most artistically rewarding and exhausting time of his life.”

More with the “Man of La Mancha” co-stars:

What’s it like to come back to a role after so many years?

Raines: I’m thrilled because I understand so much more of it. I played a lot of older guys when I was young and I would say, “I really don’t understand this guy,” but then something would happen in life and I’d say, “That’s what he was going through.” Then I would get to do the role again and find I’d grown into it.

How did you wind up in Pittsburgh after finishing up “If/Then” on Broadway?

Burns: We got our notice that “If/Then” would close in March, basically when all new Broadway shows are opening, and it was like, “Oh God, I need a job, and everything is cast.” But this is summer stock time and that’s awesome. … PCLO is a place I always wanted to work, and I had never been able to audition because of scheduling, so when my agents called I was like, “Yes. Finally.”

Raines: Summer stock used to be all over the country. It was a training ground and where movie stars went to do great plays. And so few exist anymore, especially at this level, because this is like the creme de la creme. 

Burns: Tons and tons of friends told me I had to work here. One of the girls I was in ‘Wicked’ with who is coming to do Louise in ‘Gypsy,’ Amanda Rose, I think she left ‘Wicked’ to do a show here. The word around New York is, there are maybe three or four regional houses in America that you want to work for, and PCLO is one of them. Sometimes I think it’s harder to get a PCLO or Paper Mill show that a Broadway show. It’s very competitive.

What is most challenging about playing Don Quixote? Is it vocal? Emotional?

Raines: Yes and yes. And it’s a timeless show. It’s all about the crazy, lunatic world we live in and the extremism, the Inquisition and ISIS and the Vietnam War, when this thing came out. It’s about the oppression of people who have no hope, and what this show is about is hope that you can make life better. Dream what’s hard. Push yourself. It opened during Vietnam. That’s why it hit a nerve, especially with the younger generation, which was my generation at that time. I don’t think it initially received such good notices. It ran in the Village and then moved up [to Broadway], where it ran 2,300 performances.

[Vocally,] I’m a classical American music theater actor — ’70s back is really my thing. My heroes were John Raitt, Alfred Drake, Richard Kiley — those guys, the really singing baritones.

You have to become a company really fast. Is it just like, boom, you’re in it, let’s go?

Raines: Boom, you’re in it.

Burns: I felt so bad when one of the guys the first day was like, “Hi, I’m Daniel.” And I’m like, “Hi, you’re going to rape me. Nice to meet you.” Or like you’re kissing and it’s, “Oh, what’s your name? Here we go.” But everybody is so in it, it’s a great energy, so alive, so wonderful.

Jackie, you’ve never seen the show, but you said you were asked to audition for it many times. Why do you think people have told you that Aldonza is a role that suits you?

Burns: It’s very gritty, and I have a gritty side that I am very in touch with. … I’m also very in touch with my vulnerability, and that’s what I’m finding, that I need to find more of the vulnerability in her so that she is not one-note the entire show. It’s a challenging role and I’m so excited to be doing it, especially because I’ve been doing contemporary musicals for so long that it’s really nice to be singing this kind of music. Really, really, really nice.

Sharon Eberson: seberson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1960. Twitter: SEberson_pg.

First Published: June 21, 2015, 4:00 a.m.