Reimagined THE FANTASTICKS will open on Broadway this fall — Page 3

blaxx said: "CukorLover said: "Yikes! Hopefully he'll be bare-chested underneath the cape and scarf."

A lot cheaper to just subscribe to his Intragam."

...or catch him on Apple TV's S3 of "Loot".

Considering I’ve only ever seen Zane Phillips play a sentient slab of beef, I was pleasantly surprised at what a beautiful singing voice he has (even if it’s out of context). According to some friends of mine working on the show, he is really surprising a lot of people who were doubters in the beginning, so I also choose to be optimistic about this.

UWS10023 said: "The success of the show will depend upon the concept, the direction and whether or not the story pulls at the heartstrings. As a gay person I choose to root for it’s success."

I agree, and as another Gay person, I also hope for the best. But...

This was a presentation for the Press. What was presented was meant to give an impression to the Press for what to expect. I’d very much like to hear what people do like about what was presented.

I'm not a member of the press, but my thoughts at this point are not what I hope for the show:

“Try to Remember”
• I found “Try to Remember” to be neither particularly good nor particularly bad. From an acting/character perspective, my best descriptor would be amateurish. Were his head nods meant to convey “approval” of something? Why the switch to head signal, “no” on the word, “follow”?
• That right hand locked away in the pocket of his pants throughout the song was too ‘contemporarily casual’ for my tastes. I thought it conveyed El Gallo as being a bit of a slouch (perhaps also signaling hiding something, or being uncomfortable?).
“Metaphor”
• In “Metaphor”, I was frustrated by the choices to deliberately break musical lines. For example, As Matt sings, “the microscopic inside of a leaf…”, Lewis sings an octave interval on the vowel “oh” (E3 to E4).
⁃ That E4 is a leading tone, and Nathan Levy instinctively does what leading tones instinctively want your ears and voice to do - he completes the line, but only for the very slightest fraction of a second (you have to listen carefully to catch it).
⁃ He then completely breaks the line and starts a new phrase with, “Yes I am his joy”.
⁃ To my ears and my sentiments, that’s the musical equivalent of coitus interruptus - and (for me) has similar efficacy.
• Another example of breaking the musical line occurs when Lewis sings the word, “leaf”. I don’t get the choice to break the line, or the accompanying hand gesture.
• A third example is the duet (in harmony) at the end of the song after both sing the word, “metaphor”. I can’t find, or think of any reason to break both the musical and contextual lines.
“Never Say No”
• Are they singing or speaking? Without making a choice to be on the same page, the result is cacophony.
• I find the musical changes to the score in this number to be way too much ‘Broadway schmaltz’. Are the characters parents or performers?

WorldWithoutYou wrote: "I’d say this preview has done as well as they could have possibly hoped for."

Currently, I'm afraid that's true.

Updated On: 10/9/26 at 07:21 AM

RE: "out of context"

Two posters have used this phrase as a defense for what was presented. ...and I really can appreciate their positive spin, but...

Isn't it always an actor's job to place/convey their character within a context for the audience? (And I say that without commentary re: 'right' or 'wrong'.)

If I were a casting director, and these videos were an audition, I would definitely not hire an actor who did not project a contextual element in their performance.

He's not Joshua Henry but I was surprised at how good he sounds after reading such negativity here. It is clear that the cast is not being directed the same way the would be in a full production; this is just an attempt to create buzz and in that context the performances are fine.

HenryTDobson said: "I'm confused by the negativity coming out of a couple of rehearsal videos. He sounds great! They all sound great! Let's give the show a chance before tearing it apart."

Except that these aren't "a couple of rehearsal videos". They're from a Press Performance that were uploaded to Second Stage Theater's YouTube page, for a show that's scheduled to open 13 days from today (as of this writing).

The "chance" was both given and taken when they went public at the Press Performance and then posted portions of the performance online.

IMO, both negative and positive commentary are fair game.

John Adams said: "HenryTDobson said: "I'm confused by the negativity coming out of a couple of rehearsal videos. He sounds great! They all sound great! Let's give the show a chance before tearing it apart."

Except that these aren't "a couple of rehearsal videos". They're from a Press Performance that were uploaded to Second Stage Theater's YouTube page, for a show that's scheduled to open 13 days from today (as of this writing).

The "chance" was both given and taken when they went public at the Press Performance and then posted portions of the performance online.

IMO, both negativeand positive commentary are fair game."



No, they were NOT from a "press performance", you fool. They were from a studio rehearsal that some theatre press and "influencers" were invited to watch and film. There's a big difference.

Speaking as an actor who has been a part of press preview events like this (not at the scale of Broadway, but off-Broadway and regionally), these things are the worst of the worst. Adding too much in-show context can lead to bizarre overperformance...especially when you're singing at Sid Gold's or wherever this is filmed. And going too cabaret in your interpretation can distort your performance in a different direction. The best one can hope for is to look pretty, sing pretty and then get back to the real work. It's the actor version of 'first do no harm.'

I was actually surprised by how...Jerry Orbach-y he sounds. It's a rich voice and he isn't over-singing it. I have no skin in this game, but I wouldn't be mad if I had bought a ticket (and may actually go ahead and purchase a pair).

TheatreMonkey said: "I guess we didn't learn anything from the whole Luke Evans episode..."



There's always the Beanie factor.

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "WHY DON'T WE WAIT TO ACTUALLY SEE THE SHOW BEFORE MAKING RASH JUDGEMENTS BASED ON SONG PERFORMANCES OCCURRING OUTSIDE OF THE THEATRE OR THE REHEARSAL ROOM!"

Because some person or persons associated with Second Stage Theater's YouTube page wants discussion now - they are not content to wait until after the show opens.

If you feel they've posted prematurely, please save your "outside" voice for yelling at them.

John Adams said: "RE: "out of context"

Two posters have used this phrase as a defense for what was presented. ...and I really can appreciate their positive spin, but...

Isn't it always an actor's job to place/convey their character within a context for the audience? (And I say that without commentary re: 'right' or 'wrong'.)

If I were a casting director, and these videos were an audition, I would definitely not hire an actor who did not project a contextual element in their performance."

Oh look. More lectures. Hurray!