Things I'll Love Forever: The Fantasticks

I've long considered musical theater to be something of a broken genre. Admittedly, my opinion is based primarily on the relatively limited selection of musicals I've been exposed to, a list that consists primarily of Rodgers and Hammerstein artifacts (Sorry, Sound of Music fans, but I find your show quaint and uninspired).

Back in college, though, I took a class on the history of the Broadway musical where I was exposed to this little production:


My life's been better for it.

1. The Fantasticks involves a tiny cast of seven people (and a wall) on a tiny stage - so unlike the pomp and bombast of today's Broadway productions. The intimacy of the show allows for a purer focus on storytelling over showmanship - something you rarely see in Broadway anymore.
2. Despite the small size of the cast, every character leaves a powerful impression - from the silly romantic Louisa to the (culturally insensitive?) Indian Mortimer who is good at dying.
3. The enigmatic El Gallo, narrator (and antagonist?) of the story sits on my list of roles I'd love to play. He's equal parts charismatic and threatening - a showman's showman.
4. Most Broadway nerds unfamiliar with The Fantasticks have heard and love "Try To Remember," a low-key, moving little number about clinging to good memories when times are hard. The other music's worth checking out as well. Sadly, you don't get to hear the rape song anymore ("It Depends on What You Pay") without heavy alterations to the lyrics (but we all still talk about "The Rape of the Sabine Women").
5. In my mind, the most ingenious aspect of The Fantasticks is how the show is able to turn its alleged weaknesses to its advantage. A cardboard moon hanging during a romantic scene is taken down when the mystique of the evening turns to the unflattering light of day. There's not even an actual wall in the story, but a mime holding a stick. The "wall" can thus serve as a one-man stage crew and prop dispenser, all surprisingly without breaking the illusion of the show.
6. When you add it all together - the simplistic set, the broken character cliches, and the cardboard moon - The Fantasticks serves as a surprisingly sophisticated deconstruction of the Broadway musical. The show definitely has a cynical side but manages to maintain the heart of a good, old-fashioned Broadway romance even so.

The movie version, starring New Kid on the Block Joey McIntyre and Teller (of Penn & Teller) in a speaking role, served as my introduction to the show. However, you're best served catching it on stage if you can... and I just so happen to know of a production in Murray right now. Go see it!

The Fantasticks won me over by showing that you can have your cynical cake and eat it too, and that's why I'll love it forever.