MARYSVILLE — “Try to remember the kind of September, when life was slow and oh, so mellow.”
In the midst of this September’s regional, national and world news that is anything but mellow, the Red Curtain Arts Center offers respite with its production of the mid-century modern classic musical, “The Fantasticks.” The show runs Sept. 8-24 with a talented cast.
When the musical first opened Off-Broadway in 1960, the spare allegorical piece received only modest praise and was panned by many. But the critics were proven wrong as “The Fantasticks” eventually became the longest-running musical of all time. The original show played in New York City for 42 years, and its revival, which opened in 2006 on Broadway, closed this past June.
It is said that somewhere in the world, the show is always playing. The musical certainly is a staple of American community theater because of its small cast and spare set, and Red Curtain does an excellent job.
(By the way, the Red Curtain theater is almost done and it looks and feels very professional. More donations are need to help the nonprofit organization complete its home, however.)
“The Fantasticks” is a bittersweet look at young love and the loss of innocence, said Beckye Randall, secretary of the Red Curtain Foundation.
“It’s a funny, heartwarming, and romantic tale about a boy, a girl, two fathers and a wall,” Randall said.
In the song “Never Say No” the fathers tell the story of wanting their children — their fantasticks — to fall in love. To make this happen, they build the wall between their homes and forbid contact between the young couple. It works.
The narrator, the flashy bandit El Gallo, asks the audience to use their imagination and follow him into a world of moonlight and magic. The boy and the girl fall in love, grow apart and then realize — in the song “They Were You” — the truth in El Gallo’s words that “without a hurt, the heart is hollow.”
Red Curtain’s production of “The Fantasticks” was directed by Kent Johnson, with musical direction by Christopher Puckett, choreography by Becky Oesch, costumes by Celeste Jackson-Moody and stage management by Courtney Calkins.
Edmonds Community College piano instructor Stacey Eliason and harpist Deborah McClellan of Shoreline set the musical stage. The harp adds beautifully to the dreamlike quality of the show.
The players are Dan Niven (El Gallo), Christopher Puckett (Matt, the Boy), Marina Pierce (Luisa, the Girl), Robert Small (Luisa’s father, Bellomy), Scott Randall (Matt’s father, Hucklebee), Bill Kusler (Henry, the Old Actor), Joshua Read (Mortimer, the Man Who Dies) and Erin Smith (the Mute).
Smith, a University of Washington theater major, never says a thing, but she provides much in the telling of the story. Her balletlike movements never detract from scenes in which she sprinkles the boy and the girl with autumn leaves, rain and snow.
Puckett recently earned a master’s degree at the Bard College Conservatory of Music and is a conductor by trade. His voice and his ability to play the boy Matt are highly professional and engaging.
Equally talented is Pierce as the girl Luisa. A junior at Edmonds Heights, she already has racked up some outstanding regional and professional acting credits. Her soprano is ethereal.
The fathers, Small and Randall, offer great comedic timing, as do Kusler and Read as the traveling actors. These men are highlights of the show.
Niven is in his ninth year with the Total Experience Gospel Choir. His performance as El Gallo is spot on, especially when he is singing the musical’s best-known ballad, “Try to Remember.”
“Try to remember and if you remember, then follow.”
Audiences will enjoy following El Gallo through this show.
“The Fantasticks”
Performances are at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and Sundays at 2 p.m. at the Red Curtain Arts Center, 9315 State Ave., Suite J, in the Goodwill shopping center, behind Everett Community College’s cosmetology school.
Tickets are $18 for adults, $15 for seniors, students and military personnel and $7 for kids ages 12 and under. Tickets are available online at brownpapertickets.com, at the Red Curtain box office by phone at 360-322-7402, or in person at the arts center from 2 to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
For more information, visit www.redcurtainfoundation.org or see the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/RedCurtainFoundation.
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