By Jennifer Mustoe
Pleasant Grove Players brings The Fantasticks to their wonderful little theater that resides in the lower level of Pleasant Grove’s library, and you don’t want to miss this show. The Fantasticks isn’t one of Utah’s often produced musicals, and it’s a shame, because it’s magical and mystical and sweet and romantic and funny. PG Players do a fine job of bringing this lovely musical to Utah County.
The Fantasticks, with music by Harvey Schmidt and book and lyrics by Tom Jones, is a magical tale of Matt and Luisa whose feuding parents don’t want them to marry and build a wall between the two houses. Audience members are quick to learn that this isn’t the case and these two parents actually want to see this match in “Never Say No”. This is one of the first funny plot points in the show–the parents realize that all they have to do to “convince” their kids to want to be together is to forbid it. (Which sounds like a pretty good parenting ploy to me, if I’m honest.) Loosely based on the 1894 play The Romancers (Les Romanesques) by Edmond Rostand, The Fantasticks is the world’s longest-running musical with 42 years (until 2002) and 17,162 performances off-Broadway.
Matt, played by Caleb Wallengren, is tall and lanky, and writes poems while he sits in a tree. Wallengren does a fine job as the dream-riddled youth and we immediately like him. However, as his “life challenge” comes later in the play, this is when this young actor truly shows his stuff. Luisa, played by Rebecca Boberg, has a lovely, clear voice, wonderful acting, and the perfect innocence of a 16-year-old young woman bedazzled by her budding adulthood. Boberg is truly on point perfect in this role. Robert Holcomb plays Matt’s father, Ben Huckabee. I was quite taken with Holcomb’s performance as the rather old-fashioned father to a son who is a dreamer. Wallengren and Holcomb are wonderful together and their small moment at the end of the play made me cry. Candace Write plays Amy Bellamy, Luisa’s mother. In the original production, (Amos) Bellamy is played by a man, and I loved what PG Players does with this role. Write brings a motherly touch and some silly flirting with Huckabee that completely works. Write has a clear, pure voice that sails around the theater. She’s wonderful. The wall is actually a character called The Mute played by Daisy Bailey, who effectively brings a lot of physical comedy to her role.
The nefarious El Gallo is played Dallin Bradford, whose warm voice and persuasive manner makes us love to hate him. To me, El Gallo represents what could simply be called Life’s Challenges. Huckabee and Bellamy think that if they can find a way to have Luisa “kidnapped” by an actor, they’ll seal the deal with their offspring and the two young people will marry. El Gallo is that actor. He hires his troupe of two actors to help him in his pretend abduction. These two actors, Dennis Purdey as Henry, and Kirk Baxter as Mortimer, are the found pearl of this script and this production. Purdey is so on point with his recitations of Shakespeare, I wish there was a small one-act piece with Purdey fleshing out this role. I’d pay to see that. And Baxter looks hilarious as a pirate. Their entrance onto the stage is wonderful. A gigantic nod to Set Designer Tina Fontana for that creation (I’m not giving it away)–the entire set design is brilliant. As I walked into the theater, I was prepared for a dazzling experience.
On the surface, the El Gallo plot point is so unusual, one could wonder, a fake abduction? By pirates? But as we watch the play, we realize that El Gallo represents our options to choose. He is definitely not a nice man. But is he a bad one? He brings clarity to the lovestruck, twitter-pated Matt and Luisa, though in rather unpleasant ways. (And I’d recommend this show to mature tweens and older, though the violence in the show is very tame and obviously staged in a garish, unbelievable way.) I found myself far more introspective as I watched this production. The theater is small and cozy and the action takes place right there in front of us. It gave me a chance to explore these characters more fully.
The choreography in this show is top notch. Boberg is the choreographer and her movement is great, obviously, but she leads the cast in some lovely steps that seem catered to their talents and abilities. Directors Howard Little and Kathryn Little (the backbone of PG Players) wore several hats in The Fantasticks, with lighting by Howard and musical direction by Kathryn.
I was quite taken with PG Players’ The Fantasticks and if I had time (sadly, I don’t) I would like to bring family members and friends to this production. As it is, I’d encourage you take your friends and family members to this fun, unusual, mystical musical. You’ll find yourself trying to remember it for a long time to come.
Pleasant Grove Players present The Fantasticks, by Harvey Schmidt and book and lyrics by Tom Jones.
Pleasant Grove Library, 30 E Center St, Pleasant Grove, UT 84062
Tickets: September 30-October 22, 2022 Monday, Thursday-Saturday 7:30 PM, matinees Saturday, October 15, October 22 3:00 PM.
Contact: PGPLAYERSINFO@GMAIL.COM, June 801-400-1797
PG Players Facebook Page
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