Fans of “Amelie” rejoice; a humorous, musical love story will be played out on stage by a small yet talented cast starting this Thursday.
“The Fantasticks,” a musical play that made its debut on Broadway in 1960, and that recently closed in 2002, details the lives of two families who live near one another with great wit. The two fathers, who are both incidentally horticulturists, each have a child. One father’s child being a young man and the other’s a young woman, the two teens inevitably fall hopelessly in love with one another. This sets the stage for the play.
Louisa, the young woman, is an insane, kooky, and effortlessly funny girl who will be played by Jessica West some nights and Beth Jones on others. This character is a dreamer, as capricious as she is humorous. Matt, played by Paul Hartsell and Matt Beall, is a habitually logical, educated biologist. In between the laughs, the pair manages to perform a few beautiful duets.
The roles of narrator, and an important bandit known only as “El Gallo,” fall to the more than capable Scott Brinkley, an actor with tremendous stage presence, vivid monologues, and an undeniable singing ability. Hayley Hince plays the role of “the mute” by innocently watching the entire play and handing the actors props when they’re needed, with a monologue of silence that lasts the entire play.
The plot begins to thicken when Matt’s father, Huck (played by Wilson Boyd), and Louisa’s father, Bellomy (played by Jason Graham), hatch a plan to bring their children together in holy matrimony. El Gallo is hired and he gets the help of Henry, played by Nathaniel Phillips, and Mortimer, played by Roger Sierra who comically “dies” throughout the play, in order to help ensure the marriage of the fathers’ children.
Many members of the cast, who were chosen January second and have been practicing a lot since then, are trained voice singers. They will display these ample singing skills while two musicians play the piano and the keyboard.
One thing to be aware of: when it was written in the 1960s, the word “rape” meant “abduction” rather than anything violently perverse, so worried parents need not fear.
“It’s the longest running musical piece in the history of theater. I’ve wanted to run this play ever since the first time I saw it! It had to be in an intimate theater, so the Bettersworth Auditorium was perfect, director Linda Karen Smith said. “On the Saturday night of the Ole Miss game, the northern stadium parking lot will be reserved for people coming to see ‘The Fantastick.”
The play runs from Feb. 13 through Feb. 18 in the Bettersworth Auditorium, of Giles Hall .
“The Fantasticks” begins at 7:30 p.m., Feb. 16 there will be a matinee. Seats are on a first come first serve basis and can be purchased in advance. The cost is $5 for students and seniors and $8 for general admission. For more information on tickets or the play, call 325-3490.