By: Harrison Lorenzen
Stages’ brings a storybook quality to The Fantasticks, its first production inside their new theater complex, The Gordy. As has become a coincidental tradition for Stages, this is their third time producing The Fantasticks during their first season in a new venue. Presenting a story about love, family, and friendship, this show leaves many lessons for the audience to take with them. On-stage through March 15th at The Gordy, everyone should make time to attend The Fantasticks.
The Fantasticks follows the story of two young “forbidden” lovers, whose clever fathers have erected a wall to keep them apart. While the kids fall in love, thinking their fathers forbid it, the fathers, secretly friends, must devise a ploy to revise their faux conflicts so the lovers can marry. The mysterious El Gallo arrives with his services to assist the fathers, and, in effect, corrupt the innocence of the children. Complete with a has-been Shakespearean acting duo, the show keeps audiences engaged on the edge of their seats, while also laughing hysterically throughout.
Although The Fantasticks never made it to Broadway, it holds the record for being the longest-running show in America, closing in 2002 on its original stage, the Sullivan Street Playhouse, after 42 years of off-Broadway performances. The script that Stages uses for their production was updated in 2018 by original creators Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, keeping much of its original charm but addressing modern issues and societal norms. Originally based on a parody of Romeo and Juliet, and acting as a parody on theater itself, The Fantasticks is comedic throughout, even while handling the rather dark scenes of act II.
The cast is stunning, featuring many notable names from the Houston acting scene as well as some national additions. Nkrumah Gatling, the Houston native and Broadway star, makes an incredibly cunning, devilish El Gallo, while wowing the audience with his beautiful rendition of “Try To Remember”. Although a stark contrast to his usual upstanding characters such as his recent performances of Coalhouse Walker in Ragtime, he is still able to fully embody El Gallo’s dark nature as the manipulator of the story. Tyler Hecht and Kiaya Scott have a natural chemistry as Matt and Luisa, the children, with beautifully choreographed love songs.
If you want to “try to remember the kind of September where life was slow and oh so mellow,” then The Fantasticks is the show for you. Don’t miss this wonderful production and a chance to see Stages’ beautiful new theater complex The Gordy. For more information, visit stagestheatre.com.
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