Frequently called the "Miracle on Sullivan Street" (in New York's Greenwich Village), The Fantasticks has been the most-often performed musical around the world, setting more national and international longevity records than any musical in theater history. With the advent of the show's New York closing, Donald C. Farber and Robert Viagras have completely updated the 1991 edition of their best-selling book. The Amazing Story is the detailed history of how this fabulously successful show by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt came into being, and how and why it succeeded. In tracing the evolution of the show from an idea to a cultural phenomenon, the book takes readers through the countless auditions to attract backers, the search for theaters to hold tryouts (which indicated disaster), and eventual popular success. Among the actors who have performed in the musical are Anna Maria Alberghetti, Richard Chamberlain, Elliott Gould, Bert Lahr, Liza Minnelli, Robert Goulet, and Glenn Close. This updated edition includes new photos of the show's many productions and stars, recent interviews with performers, writers, and others associated with the musical, and suprising revelations that could not be told until the show's closing on Off Broadway.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
The Fantasticks is the quintessential off-Broadway production, operating with a low budget, sparse sets and small cast. Viagas, theater critic for the New Haven (Conn.) Register , and Farber, Fantasticks legal adviser, explore the show's history but provide no insight into its phenomenal success. They tell us of its thematic roots in an 1865 play by Edmund Rostand and of its 1960 opening at Manhattan's Sullivan Theater as a Tom Jones/Harvey Schmidt musical. Jones, Schmidt and others developed the songs and characters more fully during the following 10 years, and The Fantasticks came to delight audiences worldwide. The play, which became a springboard for many careers, including those of Amadeus Oscar-winner F. Murray Abraham and Broadway star Jerry Orbach, is now in the fourth decade of its run.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
The Fantasticks is an icon of American theater, just starting its 31st year of performance. Its longevity is partly due to its simple plot, its charming music, its theatrical conception, and the universality of its myth. This well-researched book recounts The Fantasticks 's genesis and performance history. This is not a typical Broadway melodrama of a rags-to-riches instant hit, but the story of a long and arduous growth from its model in Rostand through the college careers of its three central creators and innumerable influences that shaped its final form. Dedication, determination, oceans of talent, and heavy doses of love and luck all mark the journey. The warmth and insightfulness the authors bring to their work make this book readable and instructive.
- Thomas E. Luddy, Salem State Coll., Mass.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
- Thomas E. Luddy, Salem State Coll., Mass.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Fantasticks - the book,
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This review is from: The Amazing Story of The Fantasticks: America's Longest-Running Play (Paperback)
anyone who enjoys "The Fantasticks" should enjoy this book. I find it hard to put down. It's full of interesting background information about Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt and the people who made the show happen, and is written in an engaging manner that is easy to read. I'm sure I will be reading it more than once.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Luck-and-a-half,
By
This review is from: The Amazing Story of The Fantasticks: America's Longest-Running Play (Paperback)
An enthralling, un-put-downable story about the creation of THE FANTASTICKS. By the time you're halfway through it, you realize that, given everything it had working against it, the odds of this play actually succeeding, let alone running for more than 40 years, were considerably greater than the odds of your winning the lottery or the Irish Sweepstakes. And the fact that they overcame those odds will make you feel as good as you felt the first time you saw the play.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
AN odd figure paced the lobby of the Minor Latham Theatre, glowing with the August 1959 heat in a pure white linen suit, fanning himself with a Panama straw hat. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
second floor lounge, original cast album, prop box, gonna rain, first preview Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Sullivan Street, Word Baker, Harvey Schmidt, Tom Jones, Lore Noto, Dead Horse, Greenwich Village, Iden Payne, Rita Gardner, University of Texas, Julius Monk, The Crucible, East Hampton, Jerry Orbach, Curtain Club, George Curley, Les Romanesques, Robert Alan Gold, World War, Kenneth Nelson, Charlie Baker, Long Island, New Jersey, Our Town New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
AN odd figure paced the lobby of the Minor Latham Theatre, glowing with the August 1959 heat in a pure white linen suit, fanning himself with a Panama straw hat. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
second floor lounge, original cast album, prop box, gonna rain, first preview Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Sullivan Street, Word Baker, Harvey Schmidt, Tom Jones, Lore Noto, Dead Horse, Greenwich Village, Iden Payne, Rita Gardner, University of Texas, Julius Monk, The Crucible, East Hampton, Jerry Orbach, Curtain Club, George Curley, Les Romanesques, Robert Alan Gold, World War, Kenneth Nelson, Charlie Baker, Long Island, New Jersey, Our Town New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 59
books:
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- Les Romanesques by Edmond Rostand on 7 pages
- Our Town: A Play in Three Acts (Perennial Classics) by Thornton Wilder on 5 pages
- Try to Remember: Stories from a Life by Jack Orbach on 5 pages
- Romeo and Juliet (Penguin Readers, Level 3) by William Shakespeare on page 24, page 95, and page 223
- Romeo And Juliet (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) (Saddleback Classics) by William Shakespeare on page 24, page 95, and page 223
See all 59 books this book cites
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