London's THE FANTASTICKS to Close Early, 6/26

UK's Telegraph reports that the current West End production of THE FANTASTICKS, currently playing at the Duchess Theatre, will close months earlier than it intended, on June 26. According to the report, the cast was informed of the closing notice on Friday, two days after the June 9 opening night.

Directed by Amon Miyamoto, this new production of the much-loved musical was to invigorate and illuminate the show with fresh visual, emotional and musical energy. Designer Rumi Matsui joined Miyamoto on THE FANTASTICKS following their previous collaboration on the Broadway production of PACIFIC OVERTURES for which Matsui's work was Tony Award-nominated. Lighting design was provided by 2009 Tony Award-winner Rick Fisher.

THE FANTASTICKS tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the play THE ROMANCERS (Les Romanesques) by Edmond Rostand, concerning two neighboring fathers who put up a wall between their houses to ensure that their children fall in love, because they know children always do what their parents forbid. After the children do fall in love, they discover their fathers' plot and each goes off and experience the world. Finally they return to each other and the love they had, having learned from the world to recognize their true feelings. Elements of the musical are drawn from the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, its story winding its way through Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream as well as Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore and Rostand's play. Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt's classic score features titles including "Much More," "I Can See It," and the instantly familiar "Try To Remember."

THE FANTASTICKS first played in New York nearly fifty years ago and has since become the longest running show of any kind in the United States and the longest running musical in the world. It has played in over 2000 cities and towns in the States, and internationally, it has been staged in 67 countries.