Said Sarfani, Campus Carrier Staff Reporter
Lights, camera, “The Fantasticks”! With origins in French and Italian comedia, “The Fantasticks” first debuted at the University of Mexico in 1956.
The play is one of the longest running musicals in off-Broadway history.
With joy and theatrical demeanor, the show began with El-Gallo, a Spanish pirate and magician (Ethan Hart) narrating the play as it went along. He sings about “deep in December, our hearts should remember.” The main characters then arrive on stage: the boy, Matt (Connor Wright), the girl, Louisa (Morgan Andrews), the mother, Hucklebee (Sophia Renee) and the father, Bellomy (Kyle Huey).
The story is about how a boy and girl fall in love, but cannot get married as their parents disapprove of their union. Louisa, a 16-year-old girl continuously admires herself while spending time with her lover, Matt, a 20-year-old educated man. The only barrier that remains between them is a wall between their home gardens with a small window in it. Every day, Matt peers through the window in admiration of Louisa. When Hucklebee sees her son constantly peering through the window, she tells him that she found her a girl for him to marry. Matt blatantly refuses this proposition in his musical number.
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| Photos contributed by Zach Cleland; Poster designed by JoBeth Crump Top: BCTC actors including sophomore Sam Fuller and Juniors Heather Pharis and Sean Manion rehearse for “The Fantastiks.” Bottom left: Sophomore Morgan Andrews performs as Louisa. |
Hucklebee grows furious and sends Matt inside the house. On the other side of the window Bellomy, the father, comes to water his plants. He suspects that something is fishy over the window and sends Lousia inside too.
Here, the parents meet up over the window and come up with some plans to get things going their way. Through a series of plot twists and the unexpected return of a few characters, Matt and Louisa must find a way to be together.
The play concludes with a view of the lovers’ fate and a parting refrain of “Mystery of Love” from the full cast.
At the show’s conclusion, actors said that they had to prepare a lot from character research, voice training, and a whole lot of singing. All the actors mentioned Carey C. Smith, the show’s director, and the demanding rehearsals. This showed them how the real world operates with time management and professionalism.
Freshman Tia Carter attended the dress rehearsal.
“It’s been comedic. I really like how the whole cast gets involved and sings different musical numbers,” Carter said. “I liked how the cast came out and set up props to set the mood and set the mood for the audience.”
The actors encourage students to come check out the play in hopes that they will be entertained, enthralled and amazed by the dazzling performances.