Popular musical playing in Newark

  • 2016-10-15
The longest-running musical in the history of live theater is now playing in Newark.

‘The Fantasticks’, which first opened in 1960 at the Sullivan Street Playhouse in Greenwich Village, ran for 42 years, and continues to be produced all over the world. Jerry Orbach, best known for his work in the popular television series ‘Law & Order’, starred in the original production, creating the role of El Gallo. The show is now running at Weathervane Playhouse.

The production’s director, Emmy Frank, said the show revolutionized musical theater, and began new York's off-Broadway movement. She says her production will differ from other versions, because Weathervane's space is larger than that of the Sullivan Street Playhouse, which has allowed her to create innovative staging.

The play is based on loosely on French dramatist Edmond Rostand's work ‘The Romancers’ (‘Les Romanesques’), in which he wove elements together from various sources from Shakespeare to opera to mythology. The Fantasticks, which includes the popular song ‘Try to Remember’, tells of two fathers who create an imaginary feud to bring their children together, only to have the two find out about the plot, with unpredictable results.

The show opened October 13th and runs at 7:00 pm today, as well as on the19th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd. There is a matinee on October 16th at 2:00 pm.

Organizations like these can benefit by working with poster printing companies to create colorful placards to advertise current productions.