Fantasticks (2000)
9KFantasticks: Directed by Michael Ritchie. With Joel Grey, Barnard Hughes, Jean Louisa Kelly, Joey McIntyre. A mysterious fair that comes to a small community in the countryside could make real the illusions of two teenagers.
“u0026quot;The Fantasticksu0026quot; has been a part of my life since 1960 when I first saw Kenneth Nelson, Rita Gardner, and Jerry Orbach play in the original. Over the past forty years Iu0026#39;ve directed, played-in, or played-for hundreds of performances from New York to Miami. I feel I know the play inside and out, even adding many touches for the mute that was never off-Broadway. Thirty some-odd years ago, I saw it on television, as I recall, it was John Davison, Lesley Ann Warren, and Ricardo Montalban (as El Gallo). I, being a purist, thought the TV show was abominable. But I was younger and hadnu0026#39;t learned to tolerate or respect other viewpoints or interpretations. I held my breath as I started playing the DVD after finding out that the opening u0026quot;Try to Rememberu0026quot; was gone….but the more I watched…Jonathan (Stephen Sondheimu0026#39;s musicals) Tunnicku0026#39;s orchestrations started working a magic on me, and by the time u0026quot;Soon Itu0026#39;s Gonna Rainu0026quot;. finished, I was charmed and captivated. I didnu0026#39;t object to the new u0026quot;Depends on What You Playu0026quot;, for the melody as always been in the score, only played by the u0026quot;orchestrau0026quot; as the Rape music ballet. Reading the other posts on IMDB board, I think many comments were unfair to this movie. There is NO way you could capture the original staging on film. A compromise had to be reached. And since it was Jones and Schmidt who wrote the screenplay, they and they alone had to right to do with it as they wished.”
