Previews: THE FANTASTICKS at CVRep

What happens when a much-loved play or musical is reimagined? If you set Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the 1950s, does that mean it has been reimagined? Could you set My Fair Lady during the Depression and consider that reimagined? The musical Cabaret has lended itself to various interpretations that differ from the original production, even if the script hasn’t been altered at all. And recently, with the permission of Stephen Sondheim, a production of his musical Company changed the lead’s gender from Bobby to Bobbie, allowing a woman to play the role for the first time.

When Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt conceived The Fantasticks back in 1960 the world was simpler. The show went on to become the longest running off-Broadway musical and audiences found joy in the simple story of love found, love loss, and love recovered. Tom’s beautiful prose and Harvey’s glorious music gave audiences a chance to remember the first time they fell in love. The timelessness of the story and the beautiful score certainly factored into why it ran for over 40 years.

Our reimagined love story was not conceived by us, but by Tom himself. At first, he wasn’t interested in the idea of changing his musical about a boy and girl falling in love to two boys falling in love. But the more he thought about it, the more it intrigued him,and he came to the conclusion that there was no reason not to change Luisa to Lewis, change the father characters to mothers, and create a new love story…a love story that wouldn’t have been on stage back in the 1960s.What’s striking about this version is how close it is to the original. Luisa and Matt never talk about their sexuality or if it’s wrong to be in love at a young age. Similarly, Lewis and Matt have accepted themselves for who they are and their love for each other, a love that is also supported by their mothers. 

So why change it at all? Perhaps it’s because accepting that love is love for all people can still be challenging in 2023.Fear, discrimination, and actions based on those fears are being discussed daily in the news. Or perhaps it’s because we are more accepting of different kinds of love within the human experience than we were in 1960. Or perhaps, as 93-year-old Tom Jones put it, “The more I thought about it, the more interesting it seemed. And when I actually began working on it, I became more and more enthusiastic. I had great fun doing it.”

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