Review: Short North Stage Puts New Spin on Old Favorite, THE FANTASTICKS

In his Playbill notes for THE FANTASTICKS, Short North Stage director Jonathan Flom makes an unusual assumption of his audience. Flom writes: "I think that the vast majority of avid theatergoers upwards of age 30 have some relationship with THE FANTASTICKS."

That may be true for the majority of July 21 audience at the Garden Theatre, but there were at least a handful of us who had not seen the show that set a record for the longest run on Broadway (42 years and 17,162 performances). However, whether you are seeing the show for the first time or the 101st time, the SNS version of THE FANTASTICKS offers something to make the show seem alive and new. The show runs from July 21 to Aug. 14 at the Garden Theatre (1187 N. High Street in downtown Columbus).

In a radical departure from the traditional presentations, the Short North version sets up the show as if it were being presented by a group of laborers in the 1930s Dust Bowl. The role of the Mute (compellingly played by Megan Valle, who was also the show's choreographer) is decidedly different. In other productions, the Mute basically serves as an on-stage assistant to The Gallo but in this version, the actors are playing the show directly to her after she was traumatized by the Black Sunday dust storm in 1935 Oklahoma.

For the veteran viewers of THE FANTASTICKS, that might seem like a big jump to make. However, Flom and his eight-person cast make that leap worth taking. The Dust Bowl backdrop gives songs like "Soon, It's Going to Rain" and "Plant a Radish" added a sense of poignancy.

The show hinges around the performances of Luisa (Emma Coniglio) and Matt (Robert Carlton Stimmel), two lovers who live next door to each other but are kept apart by a wall their fathers (Doug Joseph and Ryan Stem). Luisa and Matt assume the wall was built because of a long-standing feud between the two when actually the wall was created to draw the two together. Joseph and Stem explain in the song "Never Say No:" "After a while the reason appears. They did it 'cause we said no. Your daughter brings a young man in, says 'Do you like him, Pa?' Just say that he's a fool and then: You've got a son-in-law!"

The two fathers then bring in a trio of actors -- El Gallo (Brian Hupp), Henry (Alex Lanier) and Mortimer (Kate Lingnofski) - to fake a kidnapping and set up an unsuspecting Matt to become a hero by rescuing Luisa.

Coniglio shows some true character development as the show progresses, moving her character from a self-absorbed 16-year-old who believes she is a princess to a sadder but wiser girl who realizes there are dangers lurking within infatuation. Stimmel is a perfect as the handsome heel who convinces himself he's just settling for "the girl next door" and sets off for an ill-fated adventure in the second act. With a smooth-as-glass baritone voice, Hupp casts a mysterious shadow on the show as the audience tries to decide if he is actually in love with Luisa or just a mercenary lover out to break her heart.

Pairing together Stem and Joseph, two of central Ohio's comedic veterans, gave the show the needed amusing counterpunch to the romantic entanglements. Likewise Lanier and Lingnofski were perfect as Matt's ruinous companions.

With its outstanding ensemble performances, the Short North Stage's production leaves a solid impression on the first-time viewer and is well-worth revisiting for those who have seen THE FANTASTICKS before.

The Short North Stage presents THE FANTASTICKS 8 p.m. July 21-23 and 28-30 and Aug. 4-6 and 11-13 with 3 p.m. matinees on July 24 and 31 and Aug. 7 and 14 at the Garden Theatre (1187 N. High Street in downtown Columbus).

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