The Fantasticks

[Elphaba43]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 7:13pm

I've got a stupid question. What is "The Fantasticks" about? I'm singing the song "Much More" for a voice recital this spring and I love the song. I was just wondering what this musical is about?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 7:18pm

Boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets her again.

Age old story.

[Elphaba43]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 7:28pm

Oh.....exciting!

[NativeNewYorker]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 7:42pm

These two dads want their son and daughter to get together, but they know if they tell them that, they won't want anything to do with each other. They literally build a wall between their houses and forbid the kids to talk to each other. Of course, the children are drawn to each other and after they fall in love, the fathers give up the charade and pretend to make up and let the kids be together. However, they don't care for each other once the drama is gone and they each go off into the harsh, harsh world and eventually come back to each other :)

Honestly, it's incredibly dopey at times, but it's one of my all-time favorite shows.

[Elphaba43]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 7:44pm

Thanks for giving me a little more insight about this musical. It makes me sorta want to go out and buy the soundtrack!

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 8:34pm

you mean the cast recording. as far as I know a soundtrack for the movie version was never released...

[NativeNewYorker]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 9:15pm

There are actually three...the original, the Japanese production (it's in English though!) and the current off-Broadway production. Nothing beats the original, but the Japanese one is good because it includes SO much dialogue and an extra song that was written for Robert Goulet when he did the show. I really enjoy the current one as well...Santino Fontana, who played The Boy, has a GORGEOUS, strong voice.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 9:17pm

There's three in English that I know of. The Original Off-Broadway cast recording, the Japanese Tour cast recording featuring the authors which is the most complete recording and then the new Off-Broadway cast recording.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 10:55pm

The original is still the best. Cant tell you why, but it just has this wonderful sensibility about itself, while the two others seem a bit forced at times.

[gymdudeva]

Posted: 2/20/07 at 3:54am

"Much More" is the introduction to the girl. She is daydreaming about the fairytale life she would like to have when she grows up. Which is sort of one of themes of the show: fantasy versus reality.

NNY is right: It can be dopey; but done right, there is nothing more sweet and charming.

[liotte]

Posted: 2/20/07 at 2:34pm

I'm seeing this show tonight, and know nothing about it except what was just written in this thread. I hope it's good.

[DG]

Posted: 2/20/07 at 2:38pm

"I hope it's good."

There's a reason it has run for an eternity.

[Piercemn]

Posted: 2/20/07 at 4:46pm

Much More is about the girl wanting more than just to settle for what she's expected to have in her life. Don't see the movie. It's pretty bad. If you live in NYC, go to the Museum of TV and Radio. You can see the 1964 TV version with Ricardo Montalban, Susan Watson and John Davidson to get an idea of the show, or simply go to the off-Broadway production. Also, as others have stated, there's nothing like the first recording. I had the pleasure of seeing Rita Gardner in The Wedding Singer last year. I've been a fan of hers for 40 years. Also, go to the Music Theatre International website for more information on this incredible musical. I never tire of the show. I've seen 5 productions, each of them different, including the off-Broadway show at Sullivan Street in 1997.

There's something special about a show that runs 43 years!

[ztJdBrVa]

Posted: 2/20/07 at 8:16pm

Why is the story called THE FANTASTICKS?

[Piercemn]

Posted: 2/20/07 at 8:26pm

The show is based on a one-act by Edmond Rostand, the author of Cyrano de Bergerac, which translated into English is The Romancers. My guess is that Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt wanted a title that was fanciful, and came up with The Fantasticks.

I wish I had a better explanation.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 2/20/07 at 8:42pm

probably also because "Les Romanesques" isn't as catchy.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 2/20/07 at 9:16pm

It stems from George Fleming's 1900 translation of The Romanesques. He used the word fantastic to mean "one who is fantastic/fanciful in conduct or appearance." To make it even more special, he added the K at the end of the word fantastic. Jones/Schmidt rolled with it.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 2/20/07 at 10:39pm

The movie isnt *that* bad, really. Wrong headed in some respects, but not as terrible as... say, HELLO DOLLY. The thing that perplxes me about it is looking at the deleted scenes and wondering why they cut them in the first place. They wouldnt have added that much to the running time, and they make some of the scenes far more charming.

[ztJdBrVa]

Posted: 2/21/07 at 8:45am

But surely the word "Fantasticks" appears somewhere in the play?

[folkyboy]

Posted: 2/21/07 at 8:49am

i don't recommend the new Off-Broadway cast. it comes across as really dated and they have Gaston playing El Gallo in SUCH a Gaston way that it made me throw up a little.

[gymdudeva]

Posted: 2/21/07 at 9:10am

"But surely the word "Fantasticks" appears somewhere in the play?"

Yes, it's just kind of tossed in. One of the fathers says, "My son, he is fantastic!". And the other father says, "My daughter, she is fantastic, too!" (It could be the other way around.)

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 2/21/07 at 9:11am

The word appears in the script just before the fathers sing "Plant a Radish".

[gumbo2]

Posted: 2/21/07 at 9:44am

folkyboy, when I saw the show I was thinking, "Oh, so he really DOES sound like that, Gaston was not a character voice..." then again I guess he could have been putting on the identical voice for this show, but that just seems weird.
Updated On: 2/21/07 at 09:44 AM

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 2/21/07 at 9:47am

Children, lovers, fantasticks, geese.

It's right before Never Say No.

[sondhead]

Posted: 2/21/07 at 11:49am

There are actually four English recordings of The Fantasticks. It is difficult to find, but the King's College of Wimbeldon recorded their production.