Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Pittsburgh Public Theater’s fresh-take staging of “The Fantasticks” brings vitality to the musical fable while embracing its considerable charms.
That’s saying something for a retro show that leans on Shakespearean references of love and urges the audience to recall a time “when life was slow and oh so mellow.”
4 comments:
I saw The Fantasticks at the Public at the beginning of its run in September and really agree with the reviewer's comments on its success. The show itself is heartfelt, charming, and personal, and the actors and designers kept up an emotional yet simplistic mood throughout the show. Everything was surrounded by sky blue colors and open space, readily filled by El Gallo's antics and dramatic gestures and cries from Luisa, all orchestrated perfectly by the Mute. The Public has a thrust stage so the major set piece was pushed back against the wall and was at points creatively used but was not inhabited often. Most of the action took place down stage, surrounded by audience. Considering the wonderful execution of the cast, I loved having them so far downstage expertly portraying their characters and sharing emotions with the audience. I would love to see how other venues have staged this show and would even see the Public's version again. Ted Pappas put on a great season opener and I'm excited for their next show.
Last week, we were fortunate enough to have the Stage Manager of the Pittsburgh Public Theatre’s production of “The Fantasticks”, Ruth Kramer, join us in Stage Management Seminar. She gave a wonderful description of her work on the show and the process that she went through. I hope that I get a chance to go down and see if for a few different reasons. I’ve heard consistently about how iconic the show is and that everyone should see it, however I have never seen the show in any form. Ruth told us how she did not have an assistant stage manager on the show and that it was just her. I’d like to see the show so I can see the challenges she discussed and the solutions that they created. Finally, any time that a Pittsburgh theatre company is doing something interesting that is getting buzz I always want to see it.
I think my major issue with the idea of the show is what the review appears to enjoy the most, and that’s the whole minimal set and actor who appears to be a “stage manager, prop master, The Wall that separates two families and more.” I think shows with minimal sets can work, but those shows with sets which do work are all shows with extremely heavy plot lines and messages, where a set would take away from the story itself. I think in this case; the minimal set is unnecessary given the synopsis of the show provided in the review. The show seems to be on the fluffy side, so I have trouble justifying the minimal set and the breaking of the fourth wall by this actor. I believe it to be important to not break fourth wall unless entirely necessary, and again I have trouble justifying that in this production based on the review. I think doing so is cheap, lower brow theatre, and at points insulting to theatre which brings the audience into a world for them to be able to view from the inside without having to recognize that they are watching a production.
The fantasticks was one of the first shows that got me involved in this art form, it holds a special place in my heart. Hearing iconic songs like "I can see it" or "much more" elicit in me the same joyful sentiments I once experienced. I hope to see it this week before it closes. Because of its simplicity, it is a very easy production to run. Like Ben stated, they do not have an ASM on the production- which would normally be problematic- however, for this show I understand. I personally prefer to work with a management team versus working alone, so I am interested to hear/see how the absence of production assistants and ASM's have impacted the show. This show has been running for upward of 50 years simply because of its low cost run and its ability to capture audiences. I can't wait to see it again!
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