Edward Watts is FANTASTICKS' New El Gallo; Cleale Departs 3/14

Edward Watts, most recently seen on Broadway in Finian's Rainbow, will assume the role of El Gallo in The Fantasticks, the world's longest-running musical, on Monday, March 22, 2010. He replaces Lewis Cleale, who will play his final performance on March 14.

Watts will not only be performing the role during the show's historic 50th anniversary celebration (The Fantasticks turns 50 on Monday, May 3, 2010).  He is, coincidentally, the 50th actor to portray El Gallo since Jerry Orbach originated the role in 1960.

The announcement was made today by Terzetto LLC, Pat Flicker Addiss and MARS Theatricals, producers of The Fantasticks, the world's longest-running musical.

Watts' other credits include Joe in The Most Happy Fella (New York City Opera), Enjolras in Les Miserables and Adam Pontipee in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (national tours), Thomas Jefferson in 1776 (Goodspeed Opera), Carl-Magnus in A Little Night Music (Michigan Opera Theater), Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music (Lyric Theater of Oklahoma), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Camelot and Annie Get Your Gun (Music Theater of Wichita) and other roles with The 5th Avenue Theater, North Shore Music Theater, Theater of the Stars, Baltimore Center Stage, Theater Under the Stars and Kansas City Starlight. Television credits include Rescue Me, As The World Turns, All My Children and The Sopranos.

The Fantasticks (music by Harvey Schmidt, book/lyrics/direction by Tom Jones) is a captivating and simple romantic comedy about a boy and girl who fall in and out of love at the hands of their meddling fathers. The audience uses its imagination to follow the narrator, El Gallo, as he creates a world of moonlight and magic until the boy and girl find their way back to one other. The score, which includes the hit songs "Try To Remember," "They Were You" and "Soon It's Gonna Rain," is as timeless as the story itself.

Having played a record-breaking 17,162 performances in its original run at the Sullivan Street Playhouse in Greenwich Village, The Fantasticks is now playing in the heart of Times Square at The Snapple Theater Center.

The Fantasticks company includes Erik Altemus (Musical Theater Guild of Los Angele's Parade), MacIntyre Dixon (Broadway's Gypsy, 1776, A Funny Thing...Forum, Beauty and The Beast), Tom Flagg (Broadway's Will Rogers Follies, How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Oklahoma), Gene Jones (Broadway's Big River, Joe Turner's Come and Gone; No Country for Old Men), Matt Leisy (St. Louis Rep's The History Boys), Michael Nostrand (A&E's Emmy Award-winning Peter Pan, national tours of Jelly's Last Jam, The Mystery of Edwin Drood), Evy Ortiz, Steve Routman (The Keen Company's The Conscientious Objector, Awake and Sing! at Arena Stage), Kimberly Whalen (West Side Story, Carousel at Lyric Stage) and Scott Willis (Broadway's Crazy for You, 42nd Street).

The Fantasticks plays at The Snapple Theater Center's Jerry Orbach Theater, 210 West 50th Street at Broadway. The performance schedule is as follows: Mondays at 8PM, Tuesdays at 8PM, Wednesdays at 2PM, Fridays at 8PM, Saturdays at 2PM & 8PM, and Sundays at 3PM & 7:15PM.

Tickets for The Fantasticks are available by calling the box office at (212) 921-7862 or Ticketmaster.com at (212) 307-4100.

For more information on the show, visit www.FantasticksOnStage.com.