THE FANTASTICKS Closes at the Stage Arena January 10

Laurence O'Dwyer will assume the role of Henry from previously announced Terrence Currier in Arena Stage's production of Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt's The Fantasticks. The Fantasticks will run November 20 - January 10, 2010 at Arena Stage at the Lincoln Theatre with an official opening on November 27th.

As previously reported, Sebastian La Cause (Broadway’s Chicago and She Loves Me at Arena Stage) returns to Arena as the infamous El Gallo and is joined by Addi McDaniel (Off-Broadway’s The Fantasticks), Timothy Ware (national tour of Mamma Mia!), Michael Stone Forrest (Helen Hayes nominee for Sweeney Todd at Signature Theatre), Jerome Lucas Harmann (Off-Broadway’s Rio and Ton Beau Capitaine), Nate Dendy (Off-Broadway’s Underground Bound and Poof!) and Jesse Terrill (She Loves Me and Born Yesterday at Arena Stage). The cast and four-piece ensemble will be led by Musical Director George Fulginiti-Shakar (Arena’s Cabaret and Damn Yankees).

Amanda Dehnert (Oregon Shakespeare Festival‘s All's Well That Ends Well and Stratford Shakespeare Festival's Cabaret) directs the piece which tells the tale of a young couple who fall in love at the hands of their meddling fathers.  The production features set design by EuGene Lee (Tony Award for Broadway's Wicked, Candide, Sweeney Todd), and musical direction by George Fulginiti-Shakar (Arena's Cabaret and Damn Yankees).

This production will feature new elements of magic, from small sleight-of-hand tricks to large magical feats. Illusion designer Jim Steinmeyer, who has designed illusions for Barnum and Bailey Circus, David Copperfield and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast on Broadway, will add his brand of magic and illusion. These elements, paired with Lee’s grand set design, are a new approach to this show, which is traditionally presented as a small-scale production.

Originally premiering as a one-act musical in 1959 at Barnard College, The Fantasticks began its famous Off-Broadway run May 3, 1960 at the Sullivan Street Playhouse, where it played until January 13, 2002 for a record-breaking 42 years. In 1992, The Fantasticks received a Tony Award Honor for Excellence in Theater.

Tickets for this production range in price from $27-$77 and can be purchased by visiting www.arenastage.org.

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Molly Smith and Managing Director Edgar Dobie, Washington, D.C.-based Arena Stage is the largest theater in the country dedicated to American plays and playwrights. Founded in 1950 by Zelda Fichandler, Thomas Fichandler and Edward Mangum, Arena Stage was one of the nation’s original resident theaters and has a distinguished record of leadership and innovation in the field. With the opening of the new Mead Center for American Theater in 2010, Arena Stage will be a leading center for the production, presentation, development and study of American theater. Now in its sixth decade, Arena Stage serves a diverse annual audience of more than 200,000. For more information visit www.arenastage.org.

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