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The Fantasticks
“Richly illustrated, it is ideal for fans of the show, as well as admirers of musical theatre.” – Variety • “Anybody who has seen the show (who hasn't?) should read the book” – Entertainment Today • “The perfect present for any Fantasticks fans.” –, Cleveland Plain Dealer • “A valuable resource. Recommended for all collections.” – Choice
162 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1960
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218 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
October 28, 2023
Such a cute story! A Romeo and Juliet type of love story with a modern comical twist. I read the whole book cover-to-cover while on a plane ride to New York where I got to see the show off-broadway (Aaron Carter was playing Matt ❤️). Quick and easy read! Hands down one of my all time favorite musicals! Modern day classic! (Side note: research how many legendary actors have been in this show, you’d be surprised 🤩).
September 15, 2021
I followed along with the script as I watched the play. It was very helpful. I was surprised at how much they deviated from the script. It was a cute story.
December 2, 2015
The Fantasticks is one of the longest-lasting pieces of American theatre, and after reading it, I understand why. It’s a very sweet and simple story: Two friends pretend to feud in order to make their children fall in love. As they say themselves, their kids are bound to fall in love “because [their fathers] said ‘no’”, which somehow makes perfect sense without making any sense at all.
The story doesn’t have many complexities to it, but it moves quickly so it is interesting all along the way. Written in the late 1950’s, it is filled with a toned-down version of the humor you would expect to see in something like I Love Lucy or The Brady Bunch. Though there were no times when I laughed out loud, I found myself chuckling quite often through the story. There is something very innocent and almost nostalgic (odd, considering I was hardly around in that time) about the humor in this story.
Tom Jones, who wrote the book, used the “magic of theatre”, if you will, to his advantage when writing the story. For example, towards the end of the first act, the two fathers set up a fake kidnapping of the girl so that the boy can step in and appear to save the day. They make the scene as romantic as possible, complete with a moon up above their heads. Naturally, they set that up themselves, hanging up a circular piece of cardboard that is painted on the front to look like the moon. This is a silly device that could only work in the setting of a live theatrical performance. Overall, I felt there was some very clever writing from Jones.
However, there were instances when it felt that the “magic of theatre” was stretched a bit too far. There is a scene in the second act where the girl is running away with another man, and this man continues to put a mask over her face that keeps her from seeing the pain that the boy is going through. I read this section through four times and have been thinking about it ever since, but I do not understand what this scene is supposed to represent. I assume that the mask is symbolic of something, but cannot determine what, so I think this is definitely one instance where it would have been best for the writing to be a little less abstract.
Despite the issues that I did have while reading this piece, I would certainly recommend The Fantasticks. It is a sweet story with a fun set of characters, goofy humor, and intelligent writing. It is not going to take you on any deeply-moving journey or make you have some great realization about life, but it is a relatively quick and highly enjoyable read.
The story doesn’t have many complexities to it, but it moves quickly so it is interesting all along the way. Written in the late 1950’s, it is filled with a toned-down version of the humor you would expect to see in something like I Love Lucy or The Brady Bunch. Though there were no times when I laughed out loud, I found myself chuckling quite often through the story. There is something very innocent and almost nostalgic (odd, considering I was hardly around in that time) about the humor in this story.
Tom Jones, who wrote the book, used the “magic of theatre”, if you will, to his advantage when writing the story. For example, towards the end of the first act, the two fathers set up a fake kidnapping of the girl so that the boy can step in and appear to save the day. They make the scene as romantic as possible, complete with a moon up above their heads. Naturally, they set that up themselves, hanging up a circular piece of cardboard that is painted on the front to look like the moon. This is a silly device that could only work in the setting of a live theatrical performance. Overall, I felt there was some very clever writing from Jones.
However, there were instances when it felt that the “magic of theatre” was stretched a bit too far. There is a scene in the second act where the girl is running away with another man, and this man continues to put a mask over her face that keeps her from seeing the pain that the boy is going through. I read this section through four times and have been thinking about it ever since, but I do not understand what this scene is supposed to represent. I assume that the mask is symbolic of something, but cannot determine what, so I think this is definitely one instance where it would have been best for the writing to be a little less abstract.
Despite the issues that I did have while reading this piece, I would certainly recommend The Fantasticks. It is a sweet story with a fun set of characters, goofy humor, and intelligent writing. It is not going to take you on any deeply-moving journey or make you have some great realization about life, but it is a relatively quick and highly enjoyable read.
March 30, 2013
This play remains amazing because in an age of special effects, innovations in staging, all this needs is good actors, a curtain and a stepladder. The songs are poignant and moving without ever being cliched. Only the very best actors survive this play; the ones who are only celebrities are shown up as incompetent. It is honest and true, one that everyone can relate to and go home singing.
May 15, 2010
This was my favorite play to read and perform. I would have to say that I would go back to these performances any time because the story of Luis and Matt. This timeless play is a FANTASTIC read and it's poetry and fun are like no other.
May 31, 2012
The history of this show is very interesting, and the story itself has so much charm to it. It is no surprise to me why it lasted so long.
November 20, 2022
Eight actors, constantly poking through the so-called fourth wall to connect with their audience, tell the story of Matt and Luisa, and their journey toward true love. She is 16, naive, spoiled, and hopelessly romantic; he is 20 (and therefore ever so much more worldly than she), naive, earnest, and hopelessly romantic. When he returns home from school, he discovers that his father Hucklebee and her father Bellomy have erected a wall between their adjoining gardens. Over said wall, he discovers his heart's desire, and she, hers.
The fathers confess to us in short order that the wall was a device: they are good friends, not the feuding enemies that they've led their kids to believe, and have always wanted their children to fall in love and wed. The Romeo-and-Juliet idea is simply to speed things up, and it's working. Now they need a decisive final something that will clinch their children's union. Hucklebee has come up with a novel idea--to hire a wandering hero called El Gallo, who also happens to be the play's narrator, to stage a fake "rape" of Luisa. Matt will come to her aid, she and both fathers will be eternally grateful, and happiness will ensue forever after.
Of course, nothing in the world is so simple, and all four characters learn--abetted by El Gallo, his silent assistant (known only as "The Mute"), and a pair of ragtag itinerant actors--that, as the song puts it, "without a hurt, the heart is hollow."
That's pretty much all there is to The Fantasticks, but librettist/lyricist Tom Jones dresses up the slight subject with lots of coy theatricks that were actually quite adventurous and novel in 1960 but seem merely quaint today, and composer Harvey Schmidt offers a wealth of simple, pleasing melodies that, even for their familiarity, still have the capacity to melt a heart. The old-fashionedness of the show is occasionally distracting--the emotional baggage that a contemporary audience brings to the word "rape" is sufficiently different from what the authors intended to render one of the big numbers, "It Depends On What You Pay," almost offensive--but mostly it's a sweet nod to a more innocent time, in terms of what audiences expected from storytelling in general and musical theater in particular.
The fathers confess to us in short order that the wall was a device: they are good friends, not the feuding enemies that they've led their kids to believe, and have always wanted their children to fall in love and wed. The Romeo-and-Juliet idea is simply to speed things up, and it's working. Now they need a decisive final something that will clinch their children's union. Hucklebee has come up with a novel idea--to hire a wandering hero called El Gallo, who also happens to be the play's narrator, to stage a fake "rape" of Luisa. Matt will come to her aid, she and both fathers will be eternally grateful, and happiness will ensue forever after.
Of course, nothing in the world is so simple, and all four characters learn--abetted by El Gallo, his silent assistant (known only as "The Mute"), and a pair of ragtag itinerant actors--that, as the song puts it, "without a hurt, the heart is hollow."
That's pretty much all there is to The Fantasticks, but librettist/lyricist Tom Jones dresses up the slight subject with lots of coy theatricks that were actually quite adventurous and novel in 1960 but seem merely quaint today, and composer Harvey Schmidt offers a wealth of simple, pleasing melodies that, even for their familiarity, still have the capacity to melt a heart. The old-fashionedness of the show is occasionally distracting--the emotional baggage that a contemporary audience brings to the word "rape" is sufficiently different from what the authors intended to render one of the big numbers, "It Depends On What You Pay," almost offensive--but mostly it's a sweet nod to a more innocent time, in terms of what audiences expected from storytelling in general and musical theater in particular.
November 27, 2022
I read this play while also listening to the soundtrack, and I think it made all the difference. The music is beautiful, and it really elevates the entire experience.
"Their moon was cardboard, fragile. It was very apt to fray,
And what was last night scenic
May seem cynic by today.
The play's not quite done.
Oh no- not quite,
For life never ends in the moonlight night;
And despite what the pretty poets say,
The night is only half the day."
"Their moon was cardboard, fragile. It was very apt to fray,
And what was last night scenic
May seem cynic by today.
The play's not quite done.
Oh no- not quite,
For life never ends in the moonlight night;
And despite what the pretty poets say,
The night is only half the day."
January 21, 2023
There is some very problematic storylines and jokes within this show that made me uncomfortable. However, I do enjoy the music and the other factors of the show, especially the “Romeo and Juliet” outline.
June 25, 2019
No wonder it's such a popular play--it's charming.
September 15, 2023
I loved some of the songs featured in The Fantastics when I was young and first heard them in 1977. The song “Try to Remember” takes on a whole new meaning now.
February 6, 2024
Very cute, excited to play Luisa. The language of this show needs further updating. Make the actors Pirates damn it.
September 4, 2019
I don't understand why this show is so popular. Sure, it has some charm and the simplicity is probably quite appealing, but the script is weird and just not my usual style so maybe that's why I'm not into it. I want to see a production of it to fully appreciate it.
February 6, 2024
#1 sign of a hollow heart: Everything is just so Fantastick!
December 18, 2016
So I'd always hated this play unseen based on my extreme dislike of the song "Soon It's Gonna Rain." Then I decided that was irrational and unfair and that I should give it a chance. Nope! Still hate it! I dunno. Maybe if I'd read it when it came out it would have seemed innovative, but this just struck me as sophomoric bullshit.
Read
October 11, 2008Okay so this is one of my favorite musicals of all time, and reading it was just as satisfying as seeing it. It's beautiful to see all that timeless poetry on the page.
July 12, 2012
The more I think about it - the more I love the musical The Fantasticks.
Read
June 25, 2018it's going to take a reread before I really know how I felt about this because atm I dont really get it???
that will change soon!
(I'm gonna have to read this at least two/three more times in the next month)
that will change soon!
(I'm gonna have to read this at least two/three more times in the next month)
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews