MUSICAL THEATRE REVIEW:
THE FANTASTICKS
15 FEB/11

JOHN COULBOURN - QMI Agency
Rating: 4 out of 5

While it would be hard to prove it, one can’t help but think that the people who framed the KISS principle — Keep It Simple, Stupid, for the uninitiated — were inspired by a little musical titled THE FANTASTICKS. In fact, the musical, penned more than 50 years ago by playwright-lyricist Tom Jones and composer Harvey Schmidt, makes such a virtue of simplicity that it’s been playing in New York for all but a few years since it opened.

And now it’s gracing the Toronto stage, courtesy of the folks at Soulpepper, who launched a production at the Young Centre Monday. Not surprisingly, they’ve chosen to keep it pretty simple too, with director Joe Ziegler fielding a two-piece orchestra (musical director Paul Sportelli at the piano, backed by harpist Erica Goodman) to share Christina Poddubiuk’s simple set with a cast of eight players, simply lit by Louise Guinand.

Together, they spin out a highly entertaining if oddly familiar musical tale of young lovers, nurtured then ripped asunder by feuding fathers — an homage of sorts to not only Shakespeare’s ROMEO AND JULIET, but to his MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM as well, all blended with elements of OUR TOWN, THE WIZARD OF OZ and a host of other theatrical inspirations.

Ziegler in fact reinforces some of those ‘inspirations’ in his casting, playing off them with Jeff Lillico (the romantic lead in Soulpepper’s oft-revived production of OUR TOWN) cast as the FANTASTICKS' youthful Matt and Albert Schultz adding swagger and musical momentum to his performance as OT’s Stage Manager to give us an oddly avuncular El Gallo. Meanwhile, Krystin Pellerin is cast as the innocent Luisa, the object of Matt’s affection, while Michael Hanrahan and William Webster bring the feuding fathers to sparkling life. Oliver Dennis, Michael Simpson and Derek Boyes round out the cast as the doddering (and very funny) Henry, the hapless Mortimer and the Mute respectively.

And under Ziegler’s careful and considered direction, it’s certainly charming work. As the naive young lovers, Lillico and Pellerin walk the fine line between innocence and idiocy to lovely effect, while Schultz deploys just the faintest touch of irony to justify his casting as the swashbuckling master manipulator, El Gallo. Hanrahan and Webster meanwhile enjoy a nice, if unpredictable chemistry, while Boyes and Simpson prove wonderful accomplices to Dennis’ accomplished scene-stealing. In fact, Ziegler has crafted such a fine production that one can’t help but wish he had a cast who could sing as well as they can act. While Schultz has the vocal chops for the iconic Try to Remember — and certainly shows he knows how to use them on occasion — Lillico and Pellerin come off too often sounding more than slightly reedy, even with a modicum of electronic enhancement to lend them power.

In the final analysis, while its story is ultimately about as deep as a dime, a little more vocal power and projection is all it would take to make this production simply fantastic.