Stage Review - The Fantasticks (Village Theatre)
Stage Review - The Fantasticks
Presented By: Village Theatre - Issaquah, WA
Show Run: March 12 - April 21, 2024
Date Reviewed: Sunday, March 24, 2024
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman
When a show touts itself as the “world’s longest running musical”, it must have something to back that up. Even if it never actually touched a stage on Broadway, The Fantasticks racked up a nice sum of consecutive shows, 17,162 exactly over 42 years in its original off-Broadway run from 1960 through 2002. The musical, with music by Harvey Schmidt along with book and lyrics by Tom Jones, proved that running off-Broadway could be profitable, as its investors did very well as a result of that run. I’m honestly not sure if that could be done today, at some point a successful off-Broadway show, at least one as successful as The Fantasticks, would surely be courted to The Great White Way. Regardless, it must have done well for a reason, it must have some sort of magic that made it successful then and as well today, as it very popular among regional and community theatre artistic directors. Village Theater is banking on that magic as it puts up their version of The Fantasticks in a production directed by the theatre’s Artistic Director Adam Immerwahr and on stage in Issaquah though April 21 before Village’s standard move to its Everett center from April 27 through May 19.
Once you sit in front of The Fantasticks, you’ll notice some similarities in plot, if you’ve any familiarity with Shakespeare especially. There’s the two feuding families from Romeo and Juliet and their children whose love seems to be forbidden. There’s the wall that divides the star crossed lovers from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In fact, depending on the source you read, The Fantasticks represents a combination of up to five or six original sources. None of them, of course, are musicals, though, which is where this show stands out, in addition to its much smaller cast than some of those other previously produced shows. The Fantasticks is chock full of familiar songs, which is bound to happen for a show that was released over sixty years ago and has had the staying power that it does, the most popular of them “Try to Remember”, sung predominantly by the character “El Gallo”, though the entire cast of leads including the two families around which the plot centers, fathers Hucklebee and Bellomy, and children Luisa and Matt do lend a hand in both the opener and the reprise later in the show. El Gallo is the narrator of the story, and it is a tale that is told to the audience in a sort of play within a play derivative. He’s also quite the magician, in fact there’s a lot of magic to and about this piece, so much so in the storytelling that Adam has employed Dendy as a “Magic and Illusion Designer”. El Gallo explains the general plot, the actors act out the details, and it goes on as such through the whole musical. Adam has done a fine job here making it feel like the group on stage is telling the story directly to the audience. In fact Parmida Ziaei’s set feels more like a rehearsal space than anything else, making the audience feel as though they’re peering in on the work being done on stage in a behind the scenes access sort of way. And kudos to Parmida, it seems as though Seattle is filled with her sets currently. in fact this is the third show I’ve seen in less than a week with a set from Parmida, each one unique, and each one just as well designed as the others. Creating for shows as different as Stew (ACT), The Bed Trick (Seattle Shakespeare), and The Fantasticks is proof positive of her versatility and creative talent for scenic design.
Adam seems to have filled his creative team with talent, through and through. Esther Garcia, who won our costume design award for her work in last season’s Hello Dolly at Village is back here with another excellent submission, her costumes are classic and classy, wonderful examples of how costuming can make a story bigger and bolder, without going too far. Geoff Korf’s lighting and Darron L. West’s sound additionally show how astute this group is at understanding the assignment and helping Adam fulfill his vision for the show. There’s a lot that each of these creatives do here to come together and provide the setting and emotion of The Fantasticks, especially in Act 2, when the show seems to make a hard left turn after intermission.
The Fantasticks is a tale of two acts if there ever was one. Compare this, if you can, to a show like Into the Woods, where things seem to wrap up nicely at the end of the first act, and you could, in theory, go home and think that everything is fine. But then you’d miss the best part, when in Act 2, things go completely sideways. And of course that’s the story, but it’s in the telling of this story where this production excels. That includes all of the creatives that Adam has put together, but more than anything it’s about a cast that, from top to bottom, includes amazing singers and actors who handle both the more traditional feel of the first act, but also the pain, anguish, longing, and majesty of the second. First and foremost is El Gallo himself, Michael Sharon. Michael is commanding as the lynchpin of the show, the narrator and key to the presentation. Musically, his leading of “Try to Remember” is just wonderful and he manages this role with talent and precision, showing that he doesn’t just have the musical chops to stand alone with his voice, but is just as good when harmonizing with the others in this cast. He’s also quite the swashbuckler, under the oversight of fight and intimacy coordinator Ian Bond. Yes, you heard me, a story about star crossed lovers has sword fighting, could we ask for more? The two lovers are Luisa and Matt, played by Miranda Antoinette and Kawika Huston respectively. The pair are in love, separated by a fence and victims of their father’s feud. Miranda’s Luisa is a bit crazy and Kawika’s Matt more level headed, but they work very well together, their chemistry on stage exudes realness. And their turns in Act 2, without giving anything away, are even better than in Act 1. Musically, the two are more than capable. Miranda’s voice is sweet, a classic soprano that is very pleasing to the ear, while Kawika’s voice is strong and matches very well with Miranda’s. Some of the best musical moments in the show, and there are a lot of good ones, music director Tim Symons deserving a lot of credit here, are in songs like “Metaphor”, “Soon It’s Gonna Rain”, or “They Were You” when the pair perform together, their voices delightful in harmony.
The feud that I mentioned earlier is between Bellomy (Luisa’s father) and Matt’s father Hucklebee. The two can’t be more different and at the same time more alike. Both love to garden, but both are obsessed about different aspects of it, Hucklebee concerned largely about too much water on his plants while Bellomy’s process skews more toward overwatering. The two forbid their children to meet and even hire a pair of actors to instigate a plan to keep them apart, Henry and Mortimer. There’s a decent amount of humor in The Fantasticks, most of it in Act 1, and this group of four has a lot to be proud of in their delivery of it. Hugh Hastings and Robert Shampain play Bellomy and Hucklebee, respectively, while Anthony Curry and Mark Emerson are Henry and Mortimer. There’s more to the feud than the fathers let on, and that starts to take shape early in Act 1, the pair excellent in their rendition of “Never Say No”. Anyone who is a parent will surely relate to that number, and chuckle quite a bit throughout. On the other side of the proverbial wall in Act 2, the pair come together to sing “Plant a Radish”, again very well done but this song explores the other side of their relationship. Hugh and Robert along with Anthony’s Henry and Mark’s Mortimer handle Katy Tabb’s excellent choreography masterfully. There’s also a lot of slapstick to Henry and Mortimer’s roles, Anthony and Mark also doing well here, bringing a sort of entertaining vaudeville feel to their performances.
Finally, the cast is rounded out by an actor who I believe is the biggest surprise, Lisa Kwak. Her character is listed in the program as “The Mute”, which of course is apropos because she doesn’t say a word in the entire show. Lisa’s character is the stage manager in this presentation, always there with a prop or a set piece to make the show run smoothly. The performance evokes a ton of laughter through Lisa’s use of expression and movement, and is otherwise minimalist, but it really works. Lisa’s task begins before curtain, continues through Act 1, into intermission, and hers is the only character that is onstage for the entire show, or close to it. The audience definitely feels that if it weren’t for this character, the entire story and its telling would collapse. Strong, simple, and stellar is Lisa’s work here, but then again that should be no surprise. Adam’s gift for assembling a cast and creative team that is aligned with his vision of The Fantasticks is fully on display here.
The Village Theatre production of The Fantasticks, under the direction of Adam Immerwahr, is proof positive the magic making it the world’s longest running musical is still there. Led by an enchanting cast and supported by a creative team that envelops the audience in it’s design elements, The Fantasticks speaks to the romantic part of us while at the same time engaging that dark and mysterious side that we all too often try to keep hidden. It’s the complete package.
The Fantasticks runs onstage at Village Theatre in Issaquah through April 21 before moving to Everett for its run there from April 27 through May 19. For more information, including ticket availability and sales, visit https://villagetheatre.org/.
Photo credit: Auston James
