Lyceum Theatre Opens THE FANTASTICKS 8/20-28

The Fantasticks opened in 1960 and when the show closed in 2002 it had seen 17,162 performances in its original location, the Sullivan Street Playhouse, a small off-Broadway theatre in Greenwich Village, making it the longest running show in the history.  Nine presidents have seen The Fantasticks and generation after generation have embraced the universality of the show.

The Fantasticks is the story of two neighboring fathers who trick their children, Luisa and Matt, into falling in love by pretending to feud and erecting a wall between their houses. The fathers then hire traveling actors to stage a mock abduction, so that Matt can heroically seem to save Luisa, settling the supposed feud and securing their fathers' blessings (which of course the young lovers have really had all along). After the children discover the deception, they reject the arranged love match. Each goes off to experience the world, painful as it may be. "This story is about love:  the spontaneous love of starry-eyed young people, the sometimes misguided but unconditional love of parents and, perhaps most importantly, the love of theatre" says Lyceum Theatre Artistic Director and director of this show Quin Gresham.

Gary Lindemann steps back onto the Lyceum stage as the mysterious narrator, El Gallo, in The Fantasticks.  Earlier this season Gary played the roles of Captain Von Trapp in The Sound Of Music and Detective Sergeant Troughton in the hilarious comedy Run For Your Wife and Capt. Arthur Hastings in Agatha Christie's Black Coffee.   Broadway: Phantom of the Opera (Raoul). National Tours: Disney's High School Musical (Coach Bolton), Trans-Siberian Orchestra (Soloist). Favorite Regional Roles: Man of LaMancha (Quixote/Cervantes), 1776 (Edward Rutledge), The 39 Steps (Richard Hannay), Sound of Music (Capt. Von Trapp) 42^nd Street (Pat Denning), Little Women (Prof. Bhaer) Urinetown (Lockstock), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Trevor) Sweeney Todd (Antony), Kiss Me Kate (Fred), Television: Law & Order; All My Children, One Life to Live, Another World, Ryan's Hope.

Playing the two lovers are Gyu Jin Lim as Luisa and Will Sevedge as Matt.  A newcomer to the Lyceum, Ms. Lim's theater credits include Disenchanted! (Mulan), A Chorus Line (Connie), Spring is Here, Urinetown, Carousel. Training: American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Will received his BFA from The Hartt School in Hartford Connecticut. Performances at Hartt include Children of Eden (Adam/Noah), How to Succeed... (Finch), Previous appearances at The Lyceum include 1776 (The Courier), Gypsy (Angie/Farmboy), Big River (Ensemble), Pippin (Ensemble), Other regional credits: Once Upon a Mattress (Minstrel), Fiddler on the Roof (Motel), The Lion in Winter (Philip), The Cherry Orchard (Trofimov).

James Wright and Whit Reichert return to the Lyceum stage as the meddling fathers Hucklebee and Bellomy.  Mr. Wright was last seen as Dr. Graham and Inspector Japp in Agatha Chistie's Black Coffee.  James is a longtime veteran of Kansas City theatre where he has been seen on virtually every stage in the metro area over the last 20 years. Earlier this season Mr. Reichert played the role of Max Detweiler in The Sound Of Music. In the 2009 Lyceum season Whit played Teddy Brewster in Arsenic and Old Lace. Other favorite rolls at the Lyceum include Ben Franklin in 1776, J. B. Biggley in How To Succeed..., George MacMillan in Big, The Musical, Osgood Fielding in Sugar, Dr. Chumley in Harvey and Al Lewis in The Sunshine Boys.

The role of Henry, the Old Actor, will be played by Peter Bennett.  Mr. Bennett, known to Arrow Rock audiences as a director (Foxfire, Glass Menagerie, Kiss Me Kate, On Golden Pond, and It's a Wonderful Life), is making his acting debut for the Lyceum. New York acting credits include Cowboy Jack Street (starring Scott Glenn, written and directed by Joan Tewksbury) and the General in Step Lively Boy (directed by Vinnette Carrol).  He has acted for regional theatres such as North Carolina Shakespeare Festival, George Street Playhouse, Theatre by the Sea, and Riverside Theatre.

Having just appeared in Agatha Christie's Black Coffee and Run For Your Wife, Harold Hynick return to play The old actor's assistant, Mortimer, the man who dies.  His Lyceum roles have included Spritzer/Principal/Mr. Pinky in Hairspray, Mr. DiPinna in You Can't Take it With You, and Rogers in And Then There Were None.  Harold is an Assistant Professor of Theatre at Missouri Valley College, where he also serves as faculty senate president.  The past two summers he has taught theatre in London and he currently he serves as the Missouri State Chair for Region VI of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.

Playing the Mute, who facilitates much of the action of the play, is Garrett Zuercher returning to the Lyceum stage after having appeared in 2007's production of Children Of A Lesser God. An actor, director and playwright based in New York City, Zuercher's work has been seen around the world on stages and screens, both big and small.  Notable roles include the lead of Huckleberry Finn in the Broadway national tour of Deaf West's Big River and a murderer on television's Law & Order: Criminal Intent, among many others.  Hailing from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he graduated magna cum laude from Marquette University with degrees in English and theatre arts.

The production team is made up of Michael Baxter, choreographer;  James Woodland, resident musical director; Caitlin Ayer, scenic designer; D'Vaughn Agu, assistant scenic designer; Randy B. Winder, resident lighting designer; Garth Dunbar, costume designer and Ryan Matthew Hall, resident sound designer.  The production stage manager is Tony Dearing.  The assistant stage manager is Emilee Buchheit.