Director: Michael Ritchie

Writers: Tom Jones; Harvey Schmidt

From a play: The Fantasticks by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt

Based on a book: Les Romanesques by Edmond Rostand (play)

Keywords: Musical

Name	Occupation	Birth	Death	Known for
Tony Cox	Actor	31-Mar-1958		Marcus in Bad Santa
Joel Grey	Actor	11-Apr-1932		Cabaret
Barnard Hughes	Actor	16-Jul-1915	11-Jul-2006	High priest in TRON
Jean Louisa Kelly	Actor	9-Mar-1972		Kim Warner on Yes, Dear
Joey McIntyre	Singer	31-Dec-1972		New Kids on the Block
Teller	Magician	14-Feb-1948		The nonspeaking half of Penn and Teller

REVIEWS

Review by anonymous (posted on 25-Jan-2007)

The film version of this Broadway chestnut was a long time coming, and even when it did come it sat on a shelf for a few years after being filmed. It took Francis Ford Coppola's interest in it to help usher it in to theatres after some strategic editing. But it was all worth it, because this version of "Fantasticks" doesn't disappoint in the least. As one who is very familiar with the off-Broadway show (and saw the original production at the Sullivan Street Playhouse in Greenwich Village...of course, who didn't...it ran for over 40 years and because the longest running musical in the world), this version pushes all the right buttons present in the stage version while adding some new surprises as well. Thanks to the watchful eyes of Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt (the original creators of the show) who wrote the screenplay, this filmed version is spared the fate so many Broadway musicals suffer in the transition from stage to celluloid, often losing their original magic in favor of adding marketable box office stars (who don't always fit, let alone sing), new songs that don't quite work, etc. Former Backstreet Boy Joey McIntyre turns in a fine performance as The Boy; Jean Louisa Kelly is delightful at The Girl and the late Barnard Hughes couldn't be more wonderfully befuddled as The Old Actor. Joel Grey adds some Broadway star power to the proceedings as one of the fathers. And they all sing with their own voices (quite successfully, too). If you've never seen this classic tale of lost innocence and true love, you owe it to yourself to see this movie (or stop in at the Snapple Theatre in Times Square/NYC where a well-received revival of the show is currently playing).

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