Lincoln Theatre (Washington, DC)
Arena Stage presents an innovative staging of the classic musical The Fantasticks. This production of the timeless musical whose original off-Broadway run lasted 42 years is set in an abandoned amusement park, and features astonishing feats of illusion. The romantic tale of a young couple and their meddling fathers features the beloved songs "Try to Remember" and "Soon It's Gonna Rain."
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The Lincoln Theatre, a first-run movie and vaudeville house catering to black patrons opened in 1922. The Lincoln Colonnade a dance hall behind the theatre, since demolished was a popular setting for balls, parties and performances. The Theatre and Colonnade were at their zenith during the 1930's and 1940's. They were the anchor of Washington's historic Black Broadway which also included the Ho
Website: http://www.arenastage.org/season/09-10/the-fantasticks/
Arena Stage presents an innovative take on the world’s longest- running musical, The Fantasticks by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt. Director Amanda Dehnert (Oregon Shakespeare Festival‘s All’s Well That Ends Well and Stratford Shakespeare Festival’s Cabaret) and famed set designer Eugene Lee (Tony Award for Broadway’s Wicked, Candide, Sweeney Todd) take a spin on this timeless love story by staging it in Rocky Point, an abandoned amusement park in Rhode Island. This whimsical twist on the classic musical is full of buoyant humor, charming music and incredible magic that will thrill audiences of all ages.
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). Also returning to Arena Stage is Terrence Currier (Broadway’s Damn Yankees), a member of the Arena Stage company from 1972 to 1992, who has appeared in more than 80 Arena productions. The cast and four-piece ensemble will be led by Musical Director George Fulginiti-Shakar (Arena’s Cabaret and Damn Yankees).
The Fantasticks is a fanciful take on the traditional boy-meets-girl story. After their fathers forbid their love and build a wall to separate the two, Matt and Luisa are led by El Gallo from the wistfulness of when life was slow and oh so mellow to the reality that without a hurt the heart is hollow. Popular songs, such as Try to Remember and Soon It’s Gonna Rain, fill the score. Loosely based on the play The Romancers (Les Romanesques) by Edmond Rostand, the story is centered around youthful love and learning to face the realities the world presents.
This production will feature new elements of magic, from small sleight-of-hand tricks to large astonishing 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, a record-breaking 42 years. In 1992, The Fantasticks received a Tony Award Honor for Excellence in Theater.
Arena Stage today stands as a flagship American theater. Arena Stage was one of the first not-for-profit theaters in the United States, as well as a pioneer of the regional theater movement. It was the first regional theater to transfer a production to Broadway, the first invited by the U.S. State Department to tour behind the Iron Curtain, and the first to receive a Tony Award. Taking a leadership role in extending theater's horizons, Arena Stage has implemented groundbreaking policies and programs, promoting diversity in all aspects of theater, from theatergoing to production. The Arena Stage legacy of world-class productions includes vast epics, charged dramas, rousing musicals, and probing profiles. From the monumental to the developmental, Arena Stage has helped build the canon of American theater. While they produce American classics, Arena Stage premieres new American plays and supported works in progress. They've nurtured artistic growth and engaged the community, broadening and intensifying the theatrical experience for one and all. And yet, in spite of it all, in their second half-century they see themselves as more fresh, restless and dynamic than ever.
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