Lewis Cleale is New El Gallo in 'Fantasticks' Revival

Lewis Cleale, who recently appeared as Sir Galahad in the Broadway company of Spamalot, will assume the role of El Gallo in the Off Broadway revival of Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt's The Fantasticks beginning Monday, September 15, 2008.  He will replace Dennis Parlato, who will play his final performances in the longest-running musical in the world on Sunday, September 14, 2008.

Cleale's other Broadway credits include Amour, Sir Harry in Once Upon a Mattress (with Sarah Jessica Parker) and Swinging on a Star, for which he earned a Drama Desk Nomination.  He appeared Off Broadway in Time and Again (Manhattan Theater Club), A New Brain (Lincoln Center), Call Me Madam (opposite Tyne Daly at Encores!) and Big City Rhythm.  National Tours include Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard (opposite Petula Clark) and Lt. Cable in South Pacific (with Robert Goulet).  His regional credits include over thirty leading roles including Giorgio in Passion (Helen Hayes Award) and John Adams in 1776 for Ford's Theatre (Helen Hayes Nomination).  His recordings include William Finn's Infinite Joy, Myths and Hymns, Sara Zahn: Witchcraft, and the original cast recordings of Once Upon a Mattress, Swinging on a Star, Call Me Madam and Amour.

The Fantasticks is a captivating and simple romantic comedy about a boy and girl who fall in the love at the hands of their meddling fathers.  They're then separated and forced to confront the harsh realities and hidden dangers of the real world.  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 production also stars Nick Spangler, Margaret Anne Florence, Tom Flagg, Gene Jones, Jordan Nichols, Michael Nostrand, Evy Ortiz, Steve Routman, John Thomas Waite and Scott Willis.

The performance schedule is as follows: Mondays at 8PM, Wednesdays at 2PM, Thursdays and Fridays at 8PM, Saturdays at 2PM & 8PM, and Sundays at 3PM & 7:15PM.  Tickets, priced $50 - $75, are available by calling the box office at (212) 921-7862 or Ticketmaster.com at (212) 307-4100.  Specially-priced $31 student rush tickets are also available the day of the performance.

The Snapple Theater Center is located at 210 West 50th Street (at Broadway).