Les Spindle – Frontiers L.A.
Known as the world’s longest-running musical (Off-Broadway from 1960-2002), this fanciful fable by composer Now running thhrough June 5 is widely considered a gem. Alternating whimsy, Shakespearean-flavored romance, slapstick and slightly darker elements, the simple love story has a classical feel. Read more…
Now running through June 5
Neal Weaver – ArtsInLA
When this modest little musical, with book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt, first opened Off-Broadway in 1960, no one could have predicted the astonishing success it would achieve. It ran for a grand 42 years, racking up an astronomical 17,162 performances, and has since been performed all over the world. Read more…
Sharon Perlmutter - Talkin’ Broadway
Last year, Good People Theater Company burst onto the L.A. theatre scene at the Hollywood Fringe Festival with an honest, beautiful production of A Man of No Importance, which reduced me, not just to tears, but to genuine shoulder-shaking sobs. For its return to the Fringe, Good People aims not so much for sobs, but sniffles, with a production of The Fantasticks. Read more…
Now running through June 29.
Photo by Lindsay Schnebly
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw
It was probably historically inevitable that N. Richard Nash’s Broadway comedy The Rainmaker would have been turned into a musical by Nash, working with the creators of The Fantasticks, Harvey Schmidt (music) and Tom Jones (lyrics). Read more…
Now running through June 15.
Photo credit: Henry DiRocco
THE FANTASTICKS – Book and lyrics by Tom Jones, music by Harvey Schmidt.
David C. Nichols — L.A. Times
The delicate theatricality of “The Fantasticks” has weathered countless editions worldwide since its off-Broadway premiere in 1960. But Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt’s adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s “Les Romanesques” has perhaps never before enjoyed the elevated insight of the daring transplant irradiating South Coast Repertory.
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Bob Verini – ArtsinLA
Not only does helmer Amanda Dehnert’s take on The Fantasticks at South Coast Rep justify yet another revival of an overfamiliar warhorse, but it also reminds us of the fundamental reasons the Tom Jones–Harvey Schmidt valentine has been a perennial for more than 50 years and is likely to remain one. Read more…