The Fantasticks - what's the rewritten final line?

[Fan123]

Posted: 9/1/14 at 5:17pm

According to Michael Dale's blog, The Fantasticks has a new final line which "completely dismisses [the show's] original theme". Can anybody here advise what that line is? Thanks.

As most of you know, the original final line was "Remember - you must always leave the wall" followed by a reprise of 'Try to Remember'. So...is the new line "Yes, you must take down the wall!" or similar?!


"Try To Remember... The New Ending!" Updated On: 9/1/14 at 05:17 PM

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 9/1/14 at 6:13pm

If I heard it correctly, he doesn't tell them to tear down the wall. It's not that dramatically altered. I don't know if I'm quoting exactly, but which ever father it is says "They've come back. Let's take down the wall." and El Gallo says something to the effect of "No, leave the wall. It was never about the wall."

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

[Littleshopofcarrie]

Posted: 9/1/14 at 9:23pm

^ i think that was it.

Not to threadjack, but I saw this show a few weeks ago and was thoroughly disappointed and was completely bored throughout the show. It was the first time I though of leaving at intermission (I stayed because I didn't have any choice because I was with a group, however it was somewhat of an improvement) Did anybody else hate it?

[newintown]

Posted: 9/2/14 at 8:52am

"But then, they all died horribly from the plague."

[Dollypop]

Posted: 9/2/14 at 10:38am

I'll be seeing the show again in a few days. I'll report back on the new line.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 9/2/14 at 10:46am

"But then, they all died horribly from the plague."

Try to remember
The kind of September
Your wife is dead
Her skin is yellow

Try to remember
The kind of September
Your boils are red
You scream and bellow

[darquegk]

Posted: 9/2/14 at 10:52am

Try to remember
The kind of September
When corpses rose,
Your brains to swallow

Try to remember
And if you remember,
Then follow.

[newintown]

Posted: 9/2/14 at 11:12am

Double like

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 9/2/14 at 11:17am

Deep in December,
It's nice to dismember...

...And swallow

[darquegk]

Posted: 9/2/14 at 12:51pm

I guess we're all ready for the BroadwayWorld Halloween Cabaret, then?

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 9/2/14 at 12:53pm

Oh, that that were a Thing.

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 9/2/14 at 3:27pm

I kind of started my own holiday tradition of revisiting the show every year around the holiday time. I originally went on my own one year by chance around the holidays. I then, also by chance went and took two friends to see it. I have been back around that time for the past few years. Every time I see it, I really enjoy it. I love the simplicity of it, and yes, while there may have been some cast members here and there that weren't so good, I still walked away having had a good time regardless.

[darquegk]

Posted: 9/2/14 at 4:04pm

Then let's make it a thing! Who's to stop us? We are the internet!

[Dollypop]

Posted: 9/12/14 at 1:44pm

I saw the show again earlier this week and there were only about 35 people in the audience. Three of them were drunk--at least during the 2nd act. I listened carefully for the new line but these drunks made it impossible for me to hear it. You see, they were laughing hysterically at the word "hung" which is used in a completely non sexual way in the dialogue.

Anyhow, I asked Ed Watts, the current El Gallo, to explain the dialogue change and he said:

" It used to be - 'You must always leave the wall'. For whatever reason Tom Jones changed it to 'It's not about the wall'." Then he went on to complain about the drunks (maybe they were stoned).

[Fan123]

Posted: 9/12/14 at 7:03pm

Thanks, all!

I can't say I was ever 100% certain what "You must always leave the wall" meant (the wall = a monument to help you 'try to remember' the good and bad of who you used to be I guess?) but I still liked the line. I'm glad to hear the tweaked ending is still pretty similar in tone.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 9/12/14 at 7:21pm

I've always felt that the wall simply represented deception.

[CurtainsUpat8]

Posted: 9/12/14 at 7:41pm

I saw this production when it first opened at the Snapple. Tom Jones was in the cast as the old actor. He was just superb in the role. It's a very dark show, but a classic. Im in my early 50's...I've played Bellamy twice and would love to do it again! I also got Tom Jones to autograph a script they were selling in the lobby! What a great item to own!

[Ranger Tom]

Posted: 9/12/14 at 8:05pm

"Leave the wall." It's about effort. It's effort to make love work.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 9/13/14 at 11:58am

I always felt that the original line was a reference to Robert Frost.

"Good fences make good neighbors"

[darquegk]

Posted: 9/13/14 at 12:09pm

I think the "you must always leave the wall" recalls the "without a hurt, the heart is hollow" and the "Try to remember." In this interpretation, it's like saying "don't cover your scars. They are mementos of good times and of bad, and without them, your present has less meaning."

Conversely, "it was never about the wall" moves the finale's focus away from the fathers and towards the children. This love story isn't about them and their machinations, it's about the reality of two sheltered young people gradually learning the reality of the world.

(I also can't help but wonder if, with the various changes in relation to political correctness that the show has undergone, the "it was never about the wall" is a change reflecting the post-9/11 attitude towards "rebuilding" at Ground Zero, even subconsciously on the part of Jones and Schmidt. While "you must always leave the wall" reflects the attitude that we must leave the scars of the past visible, that we may never forget, the new line suggests a level of moving on that the original's quasi-memorial final line does not allow.)

[CurtainsUpat8]

Posted: 9/13/14 at 12:45pm

I always thought Leave the Wall meant... the kids have to learn for themselves, through struggle, what is really important to life. It represents the struggles that life presents. The obstacles. And the fathers are wise by putting the wall because they know the kids will work twice as hard to overcome that obstacle. "Without a hurt, the heart is hollow."

[Len Gersten]

Posted: 9/13/14 at 1:34pm

Nice discussion regarding the rewriting of the final line in the show. I've seen the show three times over the years (once in the Sullivan Street Theatre and the last two at the Snapple Theatre), and plan to go a fourth time during the current 20at20 promotion. I will look forward to the updated ending. Thanks!

[Fan123]

Posted: 5/22/17 at 5:13am

Yes, I'm at it again: I was wondering if anybody happens to be seeing the show before it closes (or so they say) on 4 June, who could report back on the general gist of the recent changes to 'Round and Round'? But if not, then not.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/off-broadway/article/Tom-Jones-Restages-Darker-Version-of-Round-and-Round-in-THE-FANTASTICKS-20170515

[Dollypop]

Posted: 5/22/17 at 3:11pm

Brought a group from church to yesterday's matinee and can report thecshow's in marvelous shape. Bradley Dean is an excellent El Gallo. 

.I couldn't see much difference in "Round and Round" other than it's played behind a red curtain now instead of a black one--and this is coming from someone who's seen the show 23 times. (I counted my Playbills!)

[Fan123]

Posted: 5/23/17 at 4:59am

Thanks! It's not surprising that the supposed changes aren't huge; why would they bother at this point. I was curious though, and appreciate your response.