Fantastic Fantastick Reviews

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 8/23/06 at 7:59pm

http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=535442

Great notes for the show and part of the cast.

On the plus side, Santino Fontana makes a strong impression as Matt, tenderly capturing the ardor of a young man for whom every emotion is a first-time experience. He also sings attractively, especially in the lovely "Metaphor," his declaration of love for Luisa. Jones (billed, as he was in the original production, as "Thomas Bruce") is sheer delight as Henry, the old actor who helps kidnap Luisa. Whether he's mangling half a dozen Shakespearean speeches into a crazy quilt of a monologue, stealing applause at the end of a Matt-Luisa duet, or unconvincingly impersonating the Doge of Venice, he's a constantly welcome presence. The same is true for Robert R. Oliver as Mortimer, Henry's woebegone Cockney sidekick, who specializes in death scenes.

On the other hand, Burke Moses emphasizes El Gallo's overripe, ham-actor aspects at the expense of the role's darker shadings. Known for its satiric, bigger-than-life turns on Broadway stages, Moses seems to be consciously reining himself in here. As Luisa, Sara Jean Ford has a lovely voice and the right ingénue-ish look, but she contributes a note of hard common sense that isn't really ideal for a young girl given to romantic fantasies. Leo Burmester and Martin Vidnovic are more dutiful than inspired as the fathers, although the audience certainly responds to their vaudevillian comedy numbers "Never Say No" and "Plant a Radish." None of these performers is really wrong, but in a show as resolutely minimalist as The Fantasticks, details matter; here, they add up to a reasonably entertaining and frequently amusing production of a musical that should break your heart a little.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 8/23/06 at 8:44pm

The performers, like the staging, the book, and those magical songs (why are beautiful, declarative melodies like Schmidt's now endangered species?), evoke for 2006 the long-forgotten (or ignored?) goal show people once had to simply move and entertain an audience. In that respect, the show is every bit as good now as it ever was.

Actually, strike that. This cast and production move, speak, and sing with a crisp vitality conspicuously missing on Sullivan Street in the original's waning days. As that Fantasticks wrapped up, it looked and felt its age; now, at 46, The Fantasticks is livelier and more energetic than most new shows. While it remains to be seen whether attitudes and economics will allow this production a marathon run of its own, I, for one, wouldn't complain if it lasted another 42 years.

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/ob/08_23_06.html

[bowbridge]

Posted: 8/23/06 at 9:04pm

I saw the show twice in previews and at the opening this afternoon and it's a beautifully crafted piece of art. Tom Jones IS Henry Albertson, no doubt about it. Anyone who doesn't see this revival is missing something special. The only problem with this afternoon's performance was at the very beginning when the Mute tossed El Gallo his hat and it went sailing Frisbee- like into the third row, hitting the guy sitting next to me in the head. The gentleman tossed the hat back but it landed on a woman sitting in front of him. LOL! You can't rehearse some things! Thank You Harvey, Tom, Lore, and Word!!!

[rclocalz]

Posted: 8/23/06 at 11:57pm

Are there any other reviews out?

[NativeNewYorker]

Posted: 8/24/06 at 9:37am

"Actually, strike that. This cast and production move, speak, and sing with a crisp vitality conspicuously missing on Sullivan Street in the original's waning days. As that Fantasticks wrapped up, it looked and felt its age; now, at 46, The Fantasticks is livelier and more energetic than most new shows. While it remains to be seen whether attitudes and economics will allow this production a marathon run of its own, I, for one, wouldn't complain if it lasted another 42 years."

I love that!!!

Theatremania's review wasn't too great.

[pab]

Posted: 8/24/06 at 9:38am

"NEW YORK (AP) - The colorful confetti swirls gracefully on the small stage. The music, courtesy of one piano and a harp, soars sweetly. And the cast sings with a fervor that doesn't stop.

Yet there's something quite stately - and a bit slow - about the first New York revival of "The Fantasticks" since the Tom Jones-Harvey Schmidt musical ended its initial, more than four-decade run in 2002 at the tiny Sullivan Street Playhouse in Greenwich Village.

A reverential blandness has crept into the proceedings of this classic loss-of-innocence tale that has inaugurated the Snapple Theater Center, a new performance space perched above a drugstore on Broadway and 50th Street. Guess what beverage is sold most prominently in the lobby?"
REVIEW: 'Fantasticks' Well-Sung, Bland

[NativeNewYorker]

Posted: 8/24/06 at 9:39am

http://theater2.nytimes.com/2006/08/24/theater/reviews/24fant.html?ref=theater


Argh, not too good.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 8/24/06 at 2:02pm

The producers of the new A CHORUS LINE need to read these reviews and take them to heart.

[sidneybruhl]

Posted: 8/24/06 at 7:12pm

Here is a link that offers quite a few reviews of the show

http://www.americantheaterweb.com/news/pressbook2.asp?id=5811685