#1
Posted: 2/11/08 at 11:51am
I saw the Fantasticks for the first time last night. As a show that ran for 42 years and whose alumni read like a who's who of theater history, I expected understated brillance. What I saw was a disjoint production with almost no production value, mediocre performances, and one of the least enjoyable theatrical experiences I've had in a while.
Now, I understand the bare set is part of the quirkiness and mysticism of the production, and you're supposed to use your imagination. But with a ticket price of $76, even for off Broadway, I was expecting more. I didn't feel like it was intentionally minimalist, I felt like I was at a middle school production where the music teacher threw together what she could.
The performances were questionable at best. The old men in the production didn't seem particularly talented, nor did they posess particularly good comedic timing. For a while I couldn't even tell if they were mocking the whole "senile old people who don't know what they're doing on stage," or if they actually were senile old people who don't know what they're doing. The slapstick was far from funny. The Boy and The Girl were understudies, and their voices, in my opinion, were the sole bright spots of the production. El Gallo overacted and was overly breathy in his renditions. And Tom Jones, legend as though he may be, was just not funny.
And what bothered me most was the score/book (which should be timeless regardless of production). While some of the tunes were catchy and the story was sweet, it seemed disjoint, nonsensical at times, and just not timeless and of high quality. It was trying too hard to be poetic with the sun/moon thing IMO, and just didn't draw me.
So, all this leads me to the question: what am I missing? What don't I get? Considering this show was good enough to run for 42 years and attracted the likes of Jerry Orbach, Robert Goulet, and countless others, I'll assume I'm at fault in not appreciating this production. What don't I get?
Now, I understand the bare set is part of the quirkiness and mysticism of the production, and you're supposed to use your imagination. But with a ticket price of $76, even for off Broadway, I was expecting more. I didn't feel like it was intentionally minimalist, I felt like I was at a middle school production where the music teacher threw together what she could.
The performances were questionable at best. The old men in the production didn't seem particularly talented, nor did they posess particularly good comedic timing. For a while I couldn't even tell if they were mocking the whole "senile old people who don't know what they're doing on stage," or if they actually were senile old people who don't know what they're doing. The slapstick was far from funny. The Boy and The Girl were understudies, and their voices, in my opinion, were the sole bright spots of the production. El Gallo overacted and was overly breathy in his renditions. And Tom Jones, legend as though he may be, was just not funny.
And what bothered me most was the score/book (which should be timeless regardless of production). While some of the tunes were catchy and the story was sweet, it seemed disjoint, nonsensical at times, and just not timeless and of high quality. It was trying too hard to be poetic with the sun/moon thing IMO, and just didn't draw me.
So, all this leads me to the question: what am I missing? What don't I get? Considering this show was good enough to run for 42 years and attracted the likes of Jerry Orbach, Robert Goulet, and countless others, I'll assume I'm at fault in not appreciating this production. What don't I get?
