The Fantasticks: Why It's Lasted

Over my most recent weekend in New York, I also took in my first professional production of The Fantasticks. I had appeared in the show about...well, a depressingly large number of years ago, playing Matt, the callow young boy. The part was too high for me vocally, but I was the only one in our little short-lived theater group who could convincingly play the part. So I have a very special place in my heart for this show, but it's also a terrific piece, and I had been meaning to see it in New York for some time.

It hardly needs relating that The Fantasticks is the world's longest-running musical, having lasted a stunning 42 years in its original incarnation. The show received a 2006 revival that ran for more than 650 performances, and closed earlier this year. After a five-month "winter hiatus" ("Oh, no, we didn't close. We were just hibernating..."), the production reopened at the recently renamed Jerry Orbach Theater at 50th Street and Broadway. (That's right across the street from Wicked at the Gershwin, for those in need of a landmark.) Orbach, as you may know, originated the part of El Gallo in the original production of The Fantasticks, which makes the name of this theater a fitting and moving tribute to a beloved performer.

From the opening of the delightful overture, I found this production of The Fantasticks a non-stop joy. First, you're dealing with a near-perfect little gem of a show, with a deceptively simple story and a rich and melodic score. Tom Jones' book is nothing short of poetry, full of wise epigrams and witty repartee. And Harvey Schmidt's score is a multifarious wonder, all the more remarkable given that the "orchestra" comprises simply a piano player and a harpist. But that's all you really need: this show is a model of theatrical economy.

The current cast features a roster of seasoned pros and eager young faces who infuse the production with a sense of freshness, aided greatly by librettist Tom Jones's sharp and lively direction. At the helm as the narrator El Gallo is the wonderful Dennis Parlato. El Gallo is a part that all too easily lends itself to histrionics and bluster, but Parlato wisely eschews both in favor of an underplayed intensity that evinces both the menace and the magnetism that make the part one of the best male roles in the musical theater canon.

The delightful Gene Jones and Steve Routman, as Hucklebee (the boy's father) and Bellamy (the girl's father) respectively, add just the right touch of ham to these wonderful comic roles. Margaret Anne Florence gave the part of Luisa just the right mix of young foolishness and silly self importance. At this performance, understudy Jordan Nichols played Matt, and he did a fine job. Since Nichols typically plays the Mute, he's no doubt had ample opportunity to see the role performed, but his subbing the role of Matt gave Douglas Ullman, Jr. a chance to play the Mute, and Ullman brought a sort of omniscient intensity to a part that could easily be a throwaway role. 

So, if you're like me and you've seen all the musicals that Broadway has to offer, or if you're just looking for a wonderful time in an intimate setting, check out The Fantasticks. It really is a timeless show with a universal message ("Without a hurt, the heart is hollow"), and as far as I'm concerned, it deserves to run another 42 years.

Comments

[Lillian (AKA the antiquated one)]

You didn't tell me you went to see The Fantastiks. I agree; it is fantastic! Incredibly sweet w/o being at all sticky sweet...and a special memory in that it was Bean's 2000 Valentine's Day gift to me.

Glad you also enjoyed it.

Lillian

[Chris Caggiano]

Geez, how did I fail to mention that? I guess I figured you were a regular reader of my blog anyway.

It's such a lovely show. I might just make it a regular thing. And now that I know you shared it with the Soup-ster, well, that just makes it that much more specialer.

xoxox

-Lenny

[Craig]

I saw it last summer and felt the exact same way. I thought it would be corny and past it's prime compared to anything else. By the end of Act I, I was in love.

Last summer Tom Jones was actually in the show playing Henry, it was cool to see an actual creator of the show partaking so many years later.

The only better thing [for me] would've been to have seen Liza and Elliot Gould.