Fifty FANTASTICK years

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 5/3/10 at 3:33pm

50 years ago tonight THE FANTASTICKS opened at the Sullivan Street Playhouse to mostly negative notices and sparse audiences. The story of its initial reception and uphill struggle is now an off-Broadway legend. The original production ran 17,162 performances (the longest continuous run of record in the American Theatre) and closed when the Sullivan Street Theatre was closed. (An article about the property is linked below.)

The show has been done in theatres large and small all over the world. Audiences never seem to tire of the simple story, the imaginative staging, and the melodic score by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones. (Three years later they would make their Broadway debut with another wonderful score for the somewhat under appreciated 110 IN THE SHADE.)

Decca Broadway remastered the original M-G-M cast album, and there is even better sound quality on the 2006 revival cast album from Ghostlight.

Tonight a special performance will mark the anniversary, but you can celebrate THE FANTASICKS anytime, and you no longer have to head way down to Sullivan Street: The Snapple Theatre Centre is right in the heart of the theatre district. The Jerry Orbach Theatre (named after the original El Gallo) is configured to closely mimic the Sullivan Street space, providing contemporary audiences with the opportunity to enjoy this intimate little show exactly the ways so many people experienced the original production fifty years ago.
181 Sullivan St.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 5/3/10 at 4:31pm

The Fantasticks is one of my all-time favorite shows, I absolutely love it. I saw the show again on Saturday night and it's in great shape right now, the cast is very strong all around.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 5/3/10 at 4:51pm

Who is in the show now? When I saw it last fall Lewis Cleale, Jonathan Schwartz, and Addie McDaniel were the leads.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 5/3/10 at 5:00pm

El Gallo - Edward Watts
Matt - Erik Altemus
Luisa - Kimberly Whalen
Hucklebee - Gene Jones
Bellomy - Steve Routman
Henry - Thomas Bruce aka Tom Jones
Mortimer - Michael Nostrand
The Mute - Matt Leisy

Kimberly Whalen is the best Luisa I've seen...probably since Julie Craig was in the cast, she's very funny and has a beautiful voice. Edward Watts is also wonderful as El Gallo. I'm still rather partial to Lewis Cleale in that role though, he was perfection.
Updated On: 5/3/10 at 05:00 PM

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 5/3/10 at 5:28pm

Kimberly Whalen is everything I have ever imagined Luisa to be. I saw her third performance and she was absolutely enchanting.

I'll be there tonight. Can't wait to see Tom Jones and the rest of the cast celebrate the unprecedented (but totally deserved) anniversary of one of my favorite musicals.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/3/10 at 5:50pm

50 years later and it's still playing to sparse audiences, no?

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 5/3/10 at 5:58pm

And there's the rain on the parade.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/3/10 at 6:13pm

Is it not true? Maybe it's a mob scene there. I dunno. I was just asking.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 5/3/10 at 6:26pm

I never saw the show down on Sullivan Street but for the most part when I've seen this production it's been about 50% full, sometimes less, sometimes more. On Saturday night it was pretty full, the only empty seats were on the very sides.

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 5/4/10 at 8:30am

The show was absolutely wonderful last night. The audience was nearly full, with a few scattered empty seats. Tom Jones is hysterical and Kimberly Whalen is gorgeous. The show is in remarkable shape and should be an example to the jaded actors on Broadway (*cough*CHICAGOLIONKINGWICKED*cough*) who walk through their performances nightly because they think the show has been running too long to care. Those actors at the Jerry Orbach Theatre STILL put their all into the show as if it had just opened.

Here's to 50 more, FANTASTICKS!

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 5/4/10 at 10:54am

I think they never sell the entire house, because some seats are partial/obstructed view and they are not sold on porpuse, feel free to correct me.