“The Fantasticks at UAA” – Anchorage Press, Oct. 9, 2014. Lee Harrington
The lights were still up when the actors took the stage, a flurry of doublets, flowing cream and diverse hats scurrying about carrying heavy boxes. Unsure if there was a technical difficulty of some sort, my attention had been caught—surely their goal. Smiles erupted and Devin Frey, who would go on to play the Old Actor Henry during the show, welcomed us to the Harper Studio at University of Alaska Anchorage. With a grand bow the players scurried offstage in all directions and the live music struck up once more.
In this production The Fantasticks, director David Block has brought to the Anchorage stage a staple of off-Broadway and community theater. Debuted in 1960, the play ran in New York for 17,162 shows over the course of 42 years. The opening song, “Try to Remember,” was recorded by Patti Page, Julie Andrews, Perry Como, Harry Belafonte… and brought Jerry Orbach (who originally sang it in the off-Broadway 1960 production) into American consciousness long before he starred as Detective “Lennie” Briscoe on Law & Order. It is a theatrical classic with an average of 250 productions happening around the world each season.
Girl loves boy because he is mysterious and love obsessed. Boy loves girl because she is inaccessible and sweet. A conspiracy tries to bring them together by pulling them apart. Love overcomes absurd odds. It is a simple enough plot for the first act. However, the second act takes us into the darkness of the human heart so emblematically sung by the narrator/villain El Gallo (Edward Washington II)–“Without a hurt, the heart is hollow.”
Our saccharine-sweet and love-lorn Luisa is played by Amanda Boger whose voice is operatic on a small stage. In her musical solos she fills the space beautifully. She is a great match for the piano and keyboard skills of Janna Preston and Rebecca Haag who stay on-stage for the entire performance (except when almost excused by El Gallo), keeping the live music flowing with focus and levity alike. The costume and hair crew certainly had fun, cladding her in short pantaloons and a side-wrap braid that lifts up the character’s youthfulness.
Her father, Hucklebee (Zack Smith), is also a charmer with his straw hat and ever present watering can. However, put opposite clipper-carrying Bellomy (Kyle Lindsey) is when he excels. The two were a great match for one another with their choreography nailed for their paired sets. For each full spin that Hucklebee provides, Bellomy does a walk-turn, both landing on their left foot at the end of the verse. If I could have seen the stories of Hucklebee and Bellomy (punctuated with their duet “Plant a Radish, Get a Radish”) for an hour and a half, I would have been delighted.
For those who enjoy slapstick, Mortimer (Raymond Leonard) is your man. The two-minute death scene is hard not to crack for, unless you don’t enjoy cheesy comedy. If you don’t like cheesy comedy moments, The Fantasticks is likely not a good fit for you–because that is part of the charm of the production. However, the real star of the production is Dayoung Yoo, the truly gifted “Mute.” Playing the wall, a tree, an opera conductor, thunder-creator, box-mover and dancing dervish, Yoo is who you turn to any time you need a break from the drama or the sorrow, or need to ramp up the comedy-feed in even the most jubilant of scenes. Yoo is always there, always a breath of fresh air.
Fifty-four years in, the mix of comedy, charm, classic love-story and depressing twisted journey continues to bring in audiences. UAA does the show justice, and is worth the watch… if only to get a cream-clad Mute to make your heart delight.
