It's time again for a visit with Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck, who joins Tom each week with her reviews of Maryland's regional stage. Today, she tells us about the new production of The Fantasticks by Baltimore's Vagabond Players.
This perpetually popular musical romantic comedy, with music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones, premiered off-Broadway in 1960, and is renowned as the world's longest running musical. Its original off-Broadway production ran for 42 years (until 2002), logging 17,162 performances. It has long been a staple of regional, community and school productions, with some 250 new stagings each year.
The Fantasticks is directed at Vagabond Players by Jimi Kinstle, with a cast featuring Quentin Patrick as The Boy (Matt), Jeff Burch as The Girl's Father (Bellomy), B. Thomas Rinaldi as The Man Who Dies (Mortimer), Kathryn Falcone as The Narrator (El Gallo), Ana Lane as The Girl (Luisa), Ari Juno as The Mute, Jim Hart as The Boy's Father (Hucklebee) and John Sadowsky as The Old Actor (Henry).
![Jim Hart (left) and Jeff Burch (right) as the two conspiring fathers in "The Fantasticks" at Baltimore's Vagabond Players. (Photo (c) Bruce F. Press Photography)](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/e8533df/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2048x1363+0+0/resize/880x586!/brightness/14x2/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe4%2Fd5%2Fcf5b12f04e6397fcd3c9ebad8d97%2Ffantasticks2-hart-burch-credit-bfpphotog.jpeg)
The Fantasticks continues at Vagabond Players through June 19th. Follow the links for showtimes and ticketing info.