I can't believe that Jones & Schmidt, the creators of this marvelous bit of theater, were complicit in the creation of this disastrous movie version that cuts the heart out of the original musical.
If you haven't seen the original, it's performed with very little in the way of props or sets. There's no "back story" for El Gallo, and no real history of the two fathers and their kids. As originally written, this show would not make a compelling movie - although it's a wonderful live event. So I didn't really mind that they opened it up and created an actual "location" for the story to take place, in this case the San Rafael Valley of Arizona, apparently sometime in the Depression. The two families live in quaint little houses in the middle of nowhere. Fine so far. And in order to beef up the chamber-style accompaniment of the play, they hired the wonderful Jonathan Tunick to orchestrate it: probably the best decision made by the producers.
In order to give El Gallo some background, however, the writers introduce an entire traveling circus that for some reason chooses to set up in a neighborhood containing only four people. It's a little creepy, and more than once reminded me of "Something Wicked This Way Comes."
The casting is the next problem. Hughes and Teller seem right as the "players." Joel Grey is good as always, but Brad Sullivan is a dud. (Try to picture Bert Lahr and Sterling Holloway in these roles - they were in the 1964 TV version. Now THAT was a cast.) The young couple is OK - Jean Louisa Kelly is charming, and she was about to make a splash in "Mr. Holland's Opus." El Gallo as played by Jonathon Morris, seems to be trying to channel Cary Elwes from "Princess Bride" and has an unimpressive singing voice. Too bad they couldn't have cast Kevin Kline or someone with a real voice as well as charisma.
So it starts with questionable raw material, then falls apart when they begin trimming songs, creating phony new dialog, and even substituting a lifeless new song for the biggest number of the musical. The lackadaisical approach to the original material spoiled the show.
If you've never seen "The Fantasticks," please go to see it live, even if it's just done by the local high school. Then you will capture the poetry and simplicity that made this a huge hit off-Broadway.
If you haven't seen the original, it's performed with very little in the way of props or sets. There's no "back story" for El Gallo, and no real history of the two fathers and their kids. As originally written, this show would not make a compelling movie - although it's a wonderful live event. So I didn't really mind that they opened it up and created an actual "location" for the story to take place, in this case the San Rafael Valley of Arizona, apparently sometime in the Depression. The two families live in quaint little houses in the middle of nowhere. Fine so far. And in order to beef up the chamber-style accompaniment of the play, they hired the wonderful Jonathan Tunick to orchestrate it: probably the best decision made by the producers.
In order to give El Gallo some background, however, the writers introduce an entire traveling circus that for some reason chooses to set up in a neighborhood containing only four people. It's a little creepy, and more than once reminded me of "Something Wicked This Way Comes."
The casting is the next problem. Hughes and Teller seem right as the "players." Joel Grey is good as always, but Brad Sullivan is a dud. (Try to picture Bert Lahr and Sterling Holloway in these roles - they were in the 1964 TV version. Now THAT was a cast.) The young couple is OK - Jean Louisa Kelly is charming, and she was about to make a splash in "Mr. Holland's Opus." El Gallo as played by Jonathon Morris, seems to be trying to channel Cary Elwes from "Princess Bride" and has an unimpressive singing voice. Too bad they couldn't have cast Kevin Kline or someone with a real voice as well as charisma.
So it starts with questionable raw material, then falls apart when they begin trimming songs, creating phony new dialog, and even substituting a lifeless new song for the biggest number of the musical. The lackadaisical approach to the original material spoiled the show.
If you've never seen "The Fantasticks," please go to see it live, even if it's just done by the local high school. Then you will capture the poetry and simplicity that made this a huge hit off-Broadway.