After all these decades, 'The Fantasticks' still are

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PROVIDENCE - "Try to remember..."

The sell-out audience at Trinity Repertory Co.'s performance of The Fantasticks last Saturday night surely were in the mood to reminisce. From their ages "deep in December" it was clear that most had seen Broadway's longest-running musical decades earlier, when the "fires of September" were still lit.

The show's run has been extended until May 6; and whatever your age, you should take advantage of the opportunity to experience or re-experience this classic tale of "boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl." Back in 1960, Tom Jones wrote the book and lyrics, with music composed by Harvey Schmidt. At the time, The Fantasticks was considered groundbreaking with its alternating emphasis on darkness and light, despair and hope and some magic for special effect.

Over the decades, many of the songs have taken on a life of their own, especially "Try to remember," "Soon it's gonna rain," and that classic of parental confusion: "Plant a radish, get a radish, not a Brussels sprout."

The settings are pure Rhode Island: The City of Warwick loaned the theater signage from the much-loved but long-abandoned Rocky Point Amusement Park that once drew tens of thousands to Warwick Neck every summer to enjoy the rides, clamcakes and chowder, and spectacular views of Narragansett Bay. It works wonderfully, drawing one into an earlier innocent and adventurous world.

Director Amanda Dehnert returned from Chicago for this production; she's usually a minimalist when it comes to sets, so the setting is a refreshing change from her bare floorboards.

Against that backdrop, 16-year-old Luisa and 19-year-old Matt fall wildly in love thanks to the machinations of their dads, Mr. Bellomy and Mr. Hucklebee. The next-door neighbors have erected a wall, on the pretense that their children should have no contact at all.

Naturally, this fuels the young couple's desire for one another. But their parents take things a step too far, hiring Mr. Gallo (Rooster in Spanish) and a team of traveling actors to stage a mock abduction. When Luisa and Matt learn of the deception, they turn away from each other, attracted to "the world."

And that's where bad things happen to good people. Separately, they suffer the plight of humanity around the world: people treating one another as disposable objects. Bruised and battered, they finally return home, wiser and sadder, but with a deepened appreciation of the love that, in the end, is what matters.

The first act takes place in the moonlight; the second, in the harsh glare of the sun. The metaphor is perfect.

Rachael Warren plays Lisa with verve and bounce, and her voice is spectacular. Stephen Thorne is attractive and assertive as Matt, but his vocals, though pleasant, are no match, especially in the duets. As Mr. Bellomy, Luisa's father, Steven Berenson is funny and hokey. Fred Sullivan, Jr.'s portrayal of Mr. Hucklebee is knee-slapping entertainment.

Joe Wilson, Jr. as Gallo gives us a complex and totally satisfying con man with a streak of tenderness, and his voice is a wonder, whether he's singing the gentle "Try to Remember" or belting out "It depends on what you pay." His key role is assisted by Nate Dendy, a mute who effortlessly performs magic throughout both acts.

The audience seemed to enjoy the antics of Mauro Hantman as Mortimer and Brian McEleney as Henry, two washed-up actors hired by Gallo to assist in the abduction. I didn't. They mimed and smirked, dragged out their lines, forcing attention away from the main storyline and slowing down the action.

I was myself a callow youth when I first saw this musical at Theater by the Sea in Matunuck and, not incidentally, was madly in love with the young man I was with, and whom I would marry the following year. Inevitably, I totally identified with the yearning romanticism of Luisa. Saturday three children and four grandchildren later I still did, but with a definite tinge of sadness and nostalgia. In addition, years and wisdom later, I thoroughly related to the fathers' sung lament: "That's why I like vegetables you know what you're about...every kidney bean, every turnip green, every plant grows according to its plot. But with childer-in, it's bewilder-in, cuz as soon as you think you know what kind you got it's what they're not."

Go have fun at Trinity. An added bonus: There's a talkback after every performance, during which audiences are invited to comment on any and all aspects of the play in dialogue with the performers.

Tickets are available by calling 401-351-4242 or online at www.trinityrep.com. Prices range from $20-$60, with discounted and rush tickets also available. Call the box office for details.

The theater is located at 201 Washington Street in Providence, with easy nearby parking.

(This article originally appeared in The Providence Visitor)