Review: THE FANTASTIKOS at The Classic Theatre Of San Antonio

On Thursday evening, we headed out for another live theatre date night to “try to remember the kind of September when life was slow and oh, so mellow.” Don’t we all need a little of that? As always, the Classic Theatre transformed their intimate space to effectively envelope us in the charm of The Fantastikos, a new bilingual adaptation of the beloved original, The Fantasticks.  This production was set in the 1950s on the Laredo and Mexican border where Alfy Valdez’s whimsical set brought us straight into someone’s charming and romantic backyard for a night of intimate storytelling. 

Soon, El Muda showed up on the scene, played by Elena Sapien.  Dressed as a mime, she began playing the Loteria as the audience came in and settled. Her dynamic presence, brilliant performance, and charismatic audience interaction brought us further into the world of the play, as the traditional Mexican bingo game guided the storytelling  for the world premiere of this new adaptation, its bilingual coordination created by Jose Ruben De Leon with Spanish translation and adaptation by Julieta Kalik. 

The story was simple and powerful, speaking about the journey of true love and of growing up,  learning about the world with all of its joys and pitfalls. Jose Ruben De Leon’s direction brought inventive staging and meaningful character growth for all of the cast, but especially for El Chico, played by Adrian Soliz and La Chica played by Madeline Bulen. We followed these two characters as they innocently fell in love, seemed to have a perfect happily ever after, and then experienced some harsh reality and grew from it. Both of these actors had beautiful vocal performances on some truly difficult music and portrayed honest depictions of personal growth and discovery, ending as entirely more real and changed people by the end.

Isidro Medina, who played the narrator and El Gallo, has become one of our favorites to look for at The Classic and San Pedro Playhouse. His presence is always so genuine, strong, and entertaining, making him the perfect actor to be such a guiding force throughout this production. 

One of the night’s highlights was the entrance of the two actors, El Hombre Viejo, played by the talented Humberto Garcia, and El Hombre que Muere, played by the delightful Jose J Dehoyos Jr. They were an audience favorite every time they popped their heads into scenes, bringing so much delightful wit and physical comedy. Even though they played over-the-top, comic relief characters, they were highly believable and filled out the world of the play in such a perfect way. The entire ensemble seamlessly brought this story to life through a whole new lense, telling the story with strong vocals, solid acting, and heartfelt joy.

We were overall mesmerized by the experience and left feeling like we had just witnessed something extraordinary. I mean, a world premiere of a new adaptation in San Antonio? That’s a big deal! I love to be a part of spreading the word for people to get out and see the amazing theatre happening in our area! 

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