The wonderful songs and rich
themes of romance, innocence, fantasy, and love’s eventual triumph when fantasy
is gone, come to life again with much grace and beauty in Short North Stage’s
current production of “The Fantasticks”.
Brian Hupp brings strong, handsome stage
presence and excellent vocals to the
role of the Narrator El Gallo.
Young Emma Coniglio and Robert Carlton
Stimmel prove charming, attractive and delightful in the roles of Luisa and
Matt. Nice vocals, movement and attitude
from Ryan Stem (Bellamy) and Dough Joseph (Hucklebee) in their portrayal of the
two fathers. Alex Lanier (Henry) and Kate Lingnofski bring lots of energy and
fun with their gender-bent portrayals of Henry and Mortimer, respectively. Megan Valle’s depiction of the mute didn’t work
for me. I have no doubt of Valle’s
abilities as a skilled actress. But the
Directorial choice to use her as a pivotal point draws focus, as opposed to
providing background support, which is typically how this role is played.
Director Jonathan Flom’s vision to set Short
North Stage’s current production of “The Fantasticks” in the 1930’s Oklahoma
Dustbowl, succeeds, except that the vegetable gardening with the fathers, which
is a major theme, doesn’t ring true in that kind of arid environment. The prolonged tableau with the children and
the fathers at the top of Act 2 going in to “This Plum Is Too Ripe” is a bit
over the top.
The piece is done in full round with a
wooden platform surrounded by dirt and pieces of junk that would have
undoubtedly speckled a 1930 Dustbowl landscape.
Good use is made of the water well derrick placed center stage. Actors climb on it to sing, recite poetry and
look out upon their fantasies.
The accompaniment from Phil Dupont, Piano
and Larry Moratta, Guitar supports the singing well. The show is performed with no microphone
reinforcement for the voices, which works for the most part in the tiny Short
North Stage Green Room space, though there were moments when I wished that
there had been some reinforcement to help blend the voices with the accompaniment.
Overall, I found this a very pleasant
evening of theater with a wonderful and much beloved classic, sung and
performed well by a capable troupe.
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