Review: 'The Fantasticks' at Tibbits Opera House
While many musicals are the stuff of fairy tales, some of the most interesting ones are those that pull back the curtain on what happens after the so-called happy ending.
The longest-running Broadway musical, “The Fantasticks,” does just that and the production at Tibbits Opera House in Coldwater, Michigan, directed by Peter Riopelle, reminds its audiences that the poetry of love stories must often go through hard times and tragedies before maturing into something authentic.
It’s a lesson that feels compelling as we come out of tragic times looking not to return to what was before but seeking out a better and wiser world.
Michigan's wet weather forced the company to cancel its opening night and then in the space of 24 hours, move the entire production back to their downtown 139-year-old opera house.
Riopelle, who took over this summer as the company’s artistic director, committed to a simple, but elegant set with an open backdrop for Lighting Designer Catie Blencowe’s dramatic hues to wash over in sequential steps with each new song, lyric change and mood. The set, which Riopelle designed with Stephanie Burdick, consisted of posts for changing scenic elements and blocks which transformed into various pieces.
The cast is small for a musical—two lovers, their fathers, a bandit, a mute, and two traveling performers. Four pairs with four unique relationships. The bandit, who is also the narrator, tells us that the two foolish, young lovers live next door to each other and dally in gardens divided by a wall their fathers erected, supposedly to keep them apart. We soon learn that it is simply a bit of reverse psychology as the fathers know the children would refuse an arranged marriage.
While there are many melancholy moments in the show—foreshadowed by its best-known song “Try to Remember”—it is overall somewhat silly, a charming comedy that lovingly mocks its main characters.
Max Antonio Gonzalez is El Gallo, the bandit, and narrator who escorts the audiences through the play and gives them insights into each of the other characters. Clad in a cape and mask, he takes on the traditional romantic look of a Spanish bandit. Gonzalez builds trust and camaraderie with the audience, working effortlessly in tandem with The Mute, played by Stephen Vaught.
Gonzalez creates a certain standoffishness with each of the other characters, always establishing his role as being both in and outside of the play. He manages to be the most trustworthy and reliable of the characters despite stepping into the role of villain at various points. It is an excellent performance by a fine actor.
Vaught brings an elegance to his role as the mute along with a sometimes sardonic humor when he is called upon to interact directly with the other characters. He physically sets the stage and summons forth other players to fulfill their role in the story. He puts in a memorable performance without ever saying a word.
Michael Motkowski and Brooke Jackson play Matt and Luisa respectively. Clad all in white as the innocents that they are, they soon reveal their romantic foolishness. They both lean heavily into the sappiness of their characters, willing to play the fool to try to achieve the status of a lover for the ages.
Both young lovers, though, get the opportunity to grow, something seen best in the song “Round and Round” where El Gallo and Luisa do an ever-more frantic dance. Jackson does an excellent job of bouncing between being the bandit’s consort and an ever-growing realization of the world’s evil and her part in it.
Matthew C. Scott and Chad Tallon as the two fathers, Hucklebee and Bellomy, are a fun pair, two schemers who care almost as much for their gardens as they do their children. Their “Never Say No” and “Plant a Radish” gives insight into their parenting and the two actors play up their quirks in ways as amusing as their costumes.
Are you a Shakespeare lover? Then the arrival of Steven Schwall as Henry “the Actor” and Nile Birch as Mortimer “The Man Who Dies” is sure to tickle your enjoyment as they proceed to mutilate the Bard while fulfilling the classic role of Shakespearean clowns.
Costumer Dusti Donbrock has a great deal of fun with her designs, all of them underlining the personalities of the characters that they drape upon.
Music was directed by Wayman Ezell who also put in a beautiful performance on the harp. He led Cynthia Garn on piano and Scott Pauley on percussion. Choreography was done by Liz Davis and she and Riopelle created fun stage pictures that always provided a perfectly balanced set.
“The Fantasticks” is light, fun fare with just enough of a message to give one something to chew upon afterward. Tibbits creates a version of this classic musical that is theatrical and entertaining.