'The Fantasticks' Is First Rate Theatre

THE FANTASTICKS

Book and Lyrics by Tom Jones, Music by Harvey Schmidt

Directed by Jonathan Silverstein, Music Director John Bell, Scene Designer Antje Ellermann, Costume Designer Theresa Squire, Lighting Designer Josh Bradford, Stage Manager Emily F. McMullen, Movement Specialist Meron Langsner

CAST: Ira Denmark, Piper Goodeve, Charles H. Hyman, Dane Knell, Nick Mannix, Dale Radunz, Christopher Sheehan, David Villella

Performances through November 9 at Merrimack Repertory Theatre

Box Office 978-654-4MRT (4678) or www.merrimackrep.org

The Merrimack Repertory Theatre starts its 30^th anniversary season with the first full musical production on their stage since 1993. The Fantasticks, with book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt, is the world's longest-running musical, having played Off-Broadway for nearly 42 years and 17,162 performances between May, 1960, and January, 2002. It was reprised in August, 2006, and continues at the Jerry Orbach Theatre, named for the late star of the original cast.

This beloved show tells a touching story about a boy and the beautiful girl next door who fall in love, in spite of the best efforts of their fathers to secretly try to unite them. The men are actually good friends who take their faux feud to ridiculous lengths, including building a wall between their lands and paying a rogue to fake an abduction of Luisa so that Matt can be the hero and "rescue" her. Once the young couple learns that they have been deceived, the blush is off the forbidden fruit and they part company. He goes off to see the world, and she learns life lessons under the tutelage of El Gallo, her abductor, at home. When Matt and Luisa are finally reunited, both wiser in the ways of the world, they accept each others' flaws and realize that their mutual love has always been the answer to their individual dreams.

Under the direction of Jonathan Silverstein, the company and creative staff assembled at Merrimack Rep are first rate. Piper Goodeve (Luisa) and Nick Mannix (Matt) are suitably callow at the outset and both give tender performances as their romance blooms, ebbs, and renews. Goodeve's voice is simply lovely and the joy in it is matched by her very expressive face when she sings. She blends beautifully with Mannix in their duets, and his strong baritone soars when he's on his own. They may be playing ingénues, but they sing with undeniable and heartfelt maturity. David Villella as El Gallo completes the trifecta with his swagger and astounding pipes. It is his role to command the stage and pull the strings of the other players and he does it exceedingly well.

In fact, when the show opens, Villella is the apparent leader of a troupe of actors who are about to perform this allegory for us and he directs them to set the stage as three talented musicians (piano, harp, percussion) play the lively overture. A scrim backs a small platform where a ladder, a bench, and a chair are relocated to suggest a wall or a tree at different moments in the story. Lighting and sound effects create storms, magical moonlit nights, and blazing sunny days. As The Narrator, Villella has the opportunity to sing the most well-known song "Try to Remember" and establishes strong rapport with the audience by infusing it with feeling and making good eye contact. He introduces The Girl, The Boy, and their respective fathers Bellomy (Ira Denmark) and Hucklebee (Dale Radunz) who sing about their efforts to manipulate the children. Attired in matching pants and vest, Bellomy is the virtual image of the merchant, with sleeve garters and pocket watch to boot. Hucklebee is more the blowfish with a big personality and a big voice to match. As they plot with each other and El Gallo, they are both just clownish enough, but never caricatures.

In addition to having a couple of the best songs, Villella gets to wear the finest costume of fabulous black leather pants, matching knee-high boots, silky black pirate shirt, big brass belt buckle, and stylish black brimmed hat with a scarlet feather. Combined with his facial hair and brio, it makes him a dashing rake in the rape (read: abduction) scene which features the most elaborate choreography with all hands on deck. Joined by The Old Actor (Charles H. Hyman) and The Man Who Dies (Dane Knell), after they stage a convincing attack on Luisa, El Gallo engages in a realistic duel with Matt, eventually falling dramatically on both of their swords. The first act ends happily with the villain vanquished and The Boy, The Girl, and their fathers posing joyously together, albeit frozen, Center Stage. The Narrator addresses the audience, questioning whether the happy scene can be sustained through the intermission and beyond.

The second act is darker and expresses the theme that the world is a harsh place. After boy meets girl and boy gets girl, it seems inevitable in musical theatre that boy loses girl. It is a simple cliché that seems to describe what happens here, but it would be unfair to characterize The Fantasticks as clichéd. Rather, Jones and Schmidt tell the story in a most imaginative way, employing a variety of theatrical devices, including The Mute (Christopher Sheehan) who oversees the prop box and augments several scenes while silhouetted behind the scrim. The exquisite score runs the emotional gamut from Matt and Luisa's dewy-eyed "Soon It's Gonna Rain," an optimistic homage to their new love, to "They Were You," a more realistic view of love informed by their period of separation and the lessons they learned in the world: "All my wildest dreams multiplied by two - they were you, they were you, they were you."

Perhaps what this play (and this production) does most successfully is to allow us to feel both the love and the hurt as The Boy and The Girl experience it. Sure, everybody is happy in the first act and, we muse, why can't life just go on that way? As usual, El Gallo has the answer in the reprise of "Try to Remember" when he sings, "Deep in December, it's nice to remember: Without a hurt the heart is hollow." Follow your heart to The Fantasticks at Merrimack Rep - it's fantastic!