Date: Fri 25-Jun-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: SHIRLE

Quick Words:

Fantasticks-Richter-theatre

Full Text:

THEATRE REVIEW: Ahhh, Love: A Perfect Way To Usher In The Summer

(with cut)

By Julie Stern

DANBURY -- If you've been down to New York some time in the last 39 years, you

may well have seen a performance of The Fantasticks, the world's

longest-running musical. Like Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap in London, The

Fantasticks has become an icon of the tourist experience.

This is a jewel of a show, best suited to a small stage on which fine

performers can entrance the audience with a mixture of charming voices and

droll comic bits, using a minimum of sets.

Happily, Musicals At Richter, which has chosen to open this year's season with

the Tom Jones-Harvey Schmidt work, is an ideal setting for the musical.

Director Richard Sanders has assembled a talented group to work with.

Christian Smythe, the boy, is in love with the girl next door, Nikki Sanders,

and she in turn loves him. But there is a wall between their houses, a la

Pyramis and Thisbe in that Shakespearian "dream"...

However, it turns out that their respective fathers were only trying to spare

their offspring any pain. They really want the two to get together and were

merely using reverse psychology: By forbidding the relationship, they were

guaranteeing their children would immediately fall desperately in love.

Therefore, the first act ends with the boy and girl joyfully united, and

expecting to live happily ever after. Further, the fathers stage a faked

kidnapping attempt so that the boy can play the hero by rescuing the girl from

her would-be abductors.

During intermission, however, their ardor cools. The premise is that while

romantic bliss is delightful, it doesn't necessarily last, and unless the

lovers get a taste of real world pain and disillusionment, they may start to

get bored with one another and yearn to hit the road for new adventure.

Under the prodding of the mysterious bandit-narrator, El Gallo, Christian

takes off for the wide world, and Nikki makes a play for the bandit. Can this

situation be saved? You'd better go and see.

Apart from the justly famous theme song "Try to Remember," which everyone in

the world can hum as soon as it starts, the love songs in this show are not as

absorbing as the comic and dramatic numbers that really trap the audience's

attention. John McMahon and Donald Leona are delightful as the clownish

fathers, who agree (as they tango together about the stage) that it's a lot

easier to "Plant a Radish" than to raise a child.

Brian Maher plays El Gallo like a flamenco gypsy in a haunting number called a

"Round and Round," as he whips his young ingenue into a passionate frenzy,

hardening her to the cruelty of the world around her.

And local stage veteran Barry Korn, accompanied by Zach Sanders as his

sidekick, play a couple of over-the-hill actors who lend their services to the

narrator's purpose -- which is to introduce the young lovers to pain, because

without pain "the heart is hollow."

The whole thing is very pleasantly done, with sweetness and enthusiasm, and

it's over at a reasonable hour. As always, Richter is a great place to go to

enjoy outdoor musical theater. With a picnic and a bottle of bug spray it's a

perfect way to usher in the summer.

(Richter's season-opening Fantasticks will continue Friday and Saturday

evening performances through July 3. Call the box office, 748-6873, for

details or reservations.)