Review: Fantasticks – An Oldie but Goodie

We all remember the joy of childhood and the exploration that comes everyday, since it was all new to us. We also remember how much MORE we wanted to do something once our loving parents told us… “No.” When you take that “no” and add humor, magic, swords, officious parents and of course, love and music… and you have the Fantasticks!

The Little Theater of Alexandria uses a wand of its on while keeping the magical essence of this classic production. Basically, boy (Matt) meets girl (Luisa) and fall in love to the pleasure of their parents, who have tricked the two love birds into thinking the families are feuding. After a concocted secret plan comes to light, a riff grows between the families, including the love birds. Will love win the day? Well, of course you’ll have to find out yourself.

From start to finish, the music hits the right spot of tune and lyric and even gets some audience members snapping their fingers. A few of the songs had notes that were a bit stretched for a couple of the main characters, but the seamlessness of the scenes and story carry it all delightfully. One of my favorite aspects of this production is that I changed my ‘favorite character’ a couple of times depending on the scene – a sign of actors giving their all and really embodying the character. And the humor throughout was icing on a well-baked cake.

I thoroughly enjoyed this production and you will do. Go see it!!

The Fantasticks plays through February 2, 2019 at The Little Theater of Alexandria located at 600 Wolfe Street, Alexandria, VA. Book and lyrics by Tom Jones, music by Harvey Schmidt, directed by Eleanore Tapscott, produced by Sharon Field & Rance Willis For tickets, call the box office at (703) 683-0496, email them at BoxOffice@thelittletheatre.com, or purchase them online.