"The Fantasticks"

Theatre review
"The Fantasticks" at Syracuse Stage
Ithaca Times
May 7, 2008
775 words
"Fine and Familiar...Syracuse stage's production of long time favorite"

full text here

Fine and Familiar...Syracuse stage's production of long time favorite
By: Mark Tedeschi
05/07/2008

The Fantasticks, book and lyrics by Tom Jones, music by Harvey Schmidt, directed and choreographed by Peter Amster. With Charles Goad, Mark Goetzinger, Robert K. Johansen, William J. Norris, Alexa Silvaggio, David Studwell, Mackenzie Thomas, and Eric Van Tielen, and some singing by Lauren Nolan. Music direction by David Nelson, scenic design by Scott Bradley, costumes by Maria Marrero, lighting by Ann Wrightson, sound design by Todd Mack Reischman.

Anyone involved in the original 1960 production of the romantic comedy/musical The Fantasticks must be exhausted with pride by now. After an initial opening to mixed reviews, the show eventually became a statistical monster. It's both the world's longest-running musical (17,162 performances in 42 years off-Broadway) and the most frequently produced (11,000 productions in over 3,000 cities and towns) - not to mention that the original 44 investors have received a 19,465% return on their initial contribution.

Why has this particular show enjoyed such immense success? It's actually quite simple, and we have a fine production currently at Syracuse Stage to prove it. The core story is uncomplicated, tried, and familiar: Two neighbors, a girl (Luisa, played in this show by Thomas) and a boy (Matt, played by Van Tielen), fall in love against their fathers' (Bellomy, played by Goad, and Huklebee, by Goetzinger) wishes. Little did they know, their fathers wanted them to get together, but were subscribing to the ubiquitous notion that children always disobey their parents. When Luisa and Matt do find out the truth, they separate, and later, reconsider their feelings.

The magic of The Fantasticks blooms from its self-consciousness: There's a narrator, El Gallo (Studwell) who participates in the plot as a swashbuckling cosmopolite; two actors playing actors, Mortimer and Henry (Johansen and Norris), who literally appear from the stage itself; and a mime known only as The Mute (Silvaggio) who generates elements that are typically produced offstage, such as precipitation and sound effects. The Mute also acts as the wall between the neighbors' houses à la Pyramus and Thisbe - and that's just one of an uncountable number of literary and theatrical references in The Fantasticks, most of which are Shakespearean.

Other creative models are more contemporary; for example, dialogue in The Fantasticks was inspired by poetry of the Beat Generation. The play itself doesn't look particularly "Beat" - many good theatrical productions put their characters in states of disrepair - but there's the undeniable euphony of Beat in many portions, as in a snippet of a speech by El Gallo: "Try to see it - not with your eyes, for they are wise - but see it with your ears: the cool, green breathing of the leaves."

Syracuse Stage's production is composed of a treasury of talent. Amster's actors master his choreography during the "Abduction Ballet" scene, wherein El Gallo and his two cronies kidnap Luisa and feign defeat at Matt's hands. Emmy award-winner Norris commands attention as Henry, "The Old Actor," whenever he speaks. Studwell's baritone voice booms as El Gallo during the famous number "Try to Remember" and cooperates with Matt's equally capable singing during their duet, "I Can See It."

Marrero costumes the cast in excellent, eclectic garb. To name a few, El Gallo sports a swooshing cape, the fathers wear comfy-looking overalls and gardening gloves, Mortimer dresses as a pirate, and the Mute in her horizontal-stripe outfit looks like she came directly from an avenue in Paris.

Bradley's inspired set design also seems influenced by artistic references; in the beginning, El Gallo enters in front of a cloudy backdrop with a bowler hat and a green apple covering his face, much like the Magritte painting "The Son of Man." Later, when Luisa and Matt meet in the woods, The Mute "pulls" down another large backdrop of cubist-ish depictions of leaves. The wooden stage itself, though, remains true to the original Fantasticks - it looks flat and spare but is full of hidden openings for actors to scoot in and out of and to hold innovative props like musical instruments for the Mute to discreetly discover and sound off.

Behind that translucent backdrop of clouds, the musicians are visible. Nelson, also the show's conductor, plays the piano, and Deette Bunn plays the harp. Both manage to extract precisely the right emotion for the scenes through their playing, and together with the singers, they make the music in The Fantasticks downright touching. The story may be straightforward, but the message (or at least a simplified part of it) is significant: Evaluate your blessings with optimism.

There's also a horticulture motif throughout the story. Jones himself said of that device, "Whenever in doubt, I tried to put in something about vegetation and the seasons." Sounds a little like he's admitting it's a metaphor for the sake of metaphor, just as the mass of literary references seem to exist, at least partially, for the fun of it. But isn't that the point? Can't there be a show that's fun, through and through? Sure there can, and if its test-of-time success is any indication, The Fantasticks is it, and Syracuse Stage has captured the pleasure.

©Ithaca Times 2008