Near perfect production of dated “The Fantasticks” at Long Wharf

NEW HAVEN — Here’s a conundrum for you. The Long Wharf Theatre’s nearly perfect production of “The Fantasticks” is still about an allegorical show that I don’t like.
I’m surprised that I had never seen a show that is a staple of the regional and community theater scene, to say nothing of its fame as the longest running Off-Broadway shows in history, having run for 42 years before closing in 2002.
Unfortunately the nature of allegory is that it is representative of archetypes rather than intimate characters and therefore any emotional connection to the audience is consciously sacrificed for the over-arching theme, here the nature of romantic love and maturing through pain.
A 16-year-old girl, Luisa, (Jessica Grove) is goofy in love with the 20-year-old next door neighbor, Matt (David Nathan Perlow) and he with her. Their fathers, Bellomy (the adorable Ray DeMattis) and Hucklebee (Dan Sharkey) use reverse psychology and pretend they hate the match, but only because they really want them to get together.
The narrator and bandit, El Gallo (Michael Sharon) is hired by the fathers to up the ante and pretends to abduct Luisa, with the aid of two hapless minstrels, Henry (William Perry) and Mortimer (Joseph Tisa).
Their children find out about the manipulation, are understandably furious, with Matt running away and Luisa seeking the attentions of her bad-boy abductor, El Gallo.
Near the end El Gallo observes, “A curious paradox no one can explain …why we all must die a bit before we grow again.”
True enough, but for the life of me I don’t see what the endless appeal of this musical is. It’s not very kind to women (hello — statutory rape anyone?), nor are the songs very catchy tunes. The show opens with the terrific song “Try to Remember,” but from then on the tunes, by Harvey Schmidt, are not memorable.
The set by Eugene Lee, of an old, run down amusement park, is the perfect backdrop to this show, and the actors are all as good as they could possibly be.
Sharon is dashing and dangerous as El Gallo, Grove is everything one could ask for in the role of the naïve and hyper romantic ingenue, while Perlow’s Matt is all youth and buoyancy, with a fine, strong voice.
The respective fathers too are fabulous, with the tall Sharkey and the diminutive DeMattis making a delightful duo, doing the old soft-shoe like the old pros they clearly are.
Perry’s Henry, the down-and-out thespian, sings his words with gorgeous over-theatricality, where Mortimer does his death scenes, his particular shtick, amusingly bad.
Jonathan Randell Silver plays El Gallo’s silent sidekick Mute with magical artistry and grace.
Evidently “The Fantasticks” is often performed with minimal staging, which makes this a popular show for the low-budget high school productions, but not here.
Part commedia dell’arte, part mime show, part magic act, the production elements of this musical, directed by Amanda Dehnert, are second to none. The magic, with the swords in the box and the disappearing acts, and the old-fashioned slight of hand bits are truly a wonder to behold, with help from magic consultants Jim Steinmeyer and Jeff Grow.
But all the bells and whistles in the world can’t disguise a dated allegory whose hay day has come and gone.

THE FANTASTICS


2 Stars
Location: 222 Sargent Drive, New Haven
Production: Books and lyrics by Tom Jones. Music by Harvey Schmidt. Directed by Amanda Dehnert. Choreographed by Sharon Jenkins. Musical direction by Bill Corcoran. Set design by Eugene Lee. Costume design by Jessica Ford. Lighting design by Nancy Schertler. Sound design by David Budries. Magic consultants Jim Steinmeyer and Jeff Grow. Fight director Craig Handel.
Running time: 2 hours with one intermission.
Show Times: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Sundays at 7 p.m., Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8 p.m., with Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. and Saturday matinees at 3 p.m. through Nov. 1.
Tickets: $30 to $70. For more information call their box office at 203-787-4282, or visit their Web site at www.longwharf.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Michael Sharon … El Gallo
Jonathan Randell Silver … The Mute
Jessica Grove … Luisa
David Nathan Perlow … Matt
Ray DeMattis … Bellomy
William Parry … Henry
Dan Sharkey … Hucklebee
Joseph Tisa … Mortimer