From Deseret News archives:
'Fantasticks' is simply delightful
LOGAN — Besides being a musical that has lived one of the longest lives off Broadway, the story of "The Fantasticks" is one that has lived even longer.
It's a simple tale of young love and meddling parents, of longing for greener pastures, of lost love, with a little prodigal activity and important life lessons learned before the last note dies.
The Old Lyric Repertory Company's production of "The Fantasticks" is true to the playwright's intended goals of emphasizing the feeling of how we are all somewhat driven by stronger forces; that we are all, to a degree, puppets influenced by so many puppet masters.
In the OLRC effort, the narrator (Richie Call) is open and honest about his role as a puppet master. In fact, he spends much of his narration behind a puppet stage, helping the audience learn more about the characters. His role is a dual one, also playing El Gallo, one of the manipulating players hoping to have a hand in shaping the life of a young couple.
As the audience gets to know the characters, the action is presented with a slight but loving nod to puppetry. The movements of the actors — especially in the first half of the first act — are very much like living marionettes.
This OLRC production is directed by Atemis Preeshl, a professional dancer and choreographer turned director. And it shows. No one stands still in this production.
Luisa (played by Megan Walker) thinks she might love Matt (Tyson Smith), and their respective fathers, Hucklebee (Bart Williams) and Bellamy (W. Lee Daily), want to make sure that she does. They are ready for a marriage between the neighbors and even go so far as to work out a phony abduction — El Gallo attempting to make off with Luisa — to make Matt even more heroic in Luisa's eyes. Walker stares straight into glaring spotlights and never flinches in any of her several numbers.
Call's opening number (the notable "Try to Remember"), and Williams and Daily presenting parental psychology ("Never Say No") are the obvious top spots of the first act. Enough cannot be said about the voice talents of these three. The ability of these actors to send a rich, well-rounded note or word to the corners of the Old Lyric, without a strain, is exceptional. These two numbers may be the only time that any emotion gets pushed off the puppet stage.
Henry and Mortimer (Kermit Herd and Dan Merket) are the odd couple of old actors who assist El Gallo with the contrived abduction and with the buffeting of Matt, who is looking for more out of life than the simplicity of love. But the pair end up confusing as much as convincing.
Not only is love simple, so is "The Fantasticks." It has a stripped-down setting. It relies simply on lighting and a couple of pianos. There is much that needs to be filled in by imagination. The story is simple enough to be outlined on the back of a napkin. Its simplicity is probably one of the reasons the musical can be found at high schools and community theaters from Anchorage to Key West.
The production ends up as it started — like a puppet show . . . wooden characters on a stage with the audience at a distance.
E-mail: jay@statesman.serv.usu.edu
