The Fantasticks is a musical from the 1960’s with music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the play The Romancers (Les Romanesques) by Edmond Rostand, concerning two neighboring fathers who manipulate their children, Luisa and Matt, into falling in love by building a wall between their gardens, and pretending to feud. The fathers hire a “professional abductor” and traveling actors to stage a mock abduction in the hopes that Matt may “save” Luisa heroically, in turn ending the supposed feud. When the two children unveil the fathers’ deception, they reject their arranged love and separate. In their separation the children see the world for what it really is, in parallel sequences of fantasy. On their return, they renew their vows in their newfound maturity. The show became a Greenwich Village staple at the Sullivan Street Playhouse and only closed because the new owners of the building decided to convert the Playhouse into commercial space. The show later opened in Times Square in the new Jerry Orbach Theater and ran from 2006 until June of this year. In March 2017 the Producers of Off-Broadway’s The Fantasticks announced that the long-running musical will close June 4 after playing 4,390 performances at the Jerry Orbach Theatre, located at 1627 Broadway. The musical, now in its 57th year, originally opened in 1960. At the time of its closing, the production will have played a total of 21,552 performances in New York alone.

HART’s production of The Fantasticks is being directed by Daniel Hensley and Isaac Folk. It will feature: Adam Lentini, Madison Garris, Dylan Renken, David Anthony Yeates, Stephen A. Gonya, Glenn Arnette, Tom Dewees and Harmony Canaday.

This will also be the first of HART’s Dinner Theatre productions. The seating in the new Fangmeyer Theater will be at tables, and an elaborate buffet dinner will be served beginning at 6pm for evening performances and for matinees. If you are a season subscriber at the Golden Flex Pass level or above, your dinner is included in your season flex pass, but you can only use one of your admissions per pass for this show.  If you have a Silver Flex Pass and decide you would like to use one of your admissions for The Fantasticks, there is a surcharge of $20 that adds the dinner to your evening. Wine and beer are extra. Seating will be at tables of 6. Ringside tables for 2 and 4 are available at a slightly higher cost.