host posted on May 27, 2011 10:21
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT PERSON: JoAnn Evans, South Padre Island, 956-943-4700
The Fantasticks – World’s Longest Running Musical—To Play on Island This June
This June, El Paseo Arts Foundation is proud to present is the world’s longest-running musical and the
longest-running legitimate show in any category in American theatre – THE FANTASTICKS. The poetry of
Tom Jones’ book and lyrics and the power of Harvey Schmidt’s music continue to enchant more than 50
years after the show opened at the Sullivan Street Playhouse in New York, and the children who saw it
years ago now bring their children and grandchildren to see it.
On the surface, the show is a simple story of young lovers who become disenchanted with one another,
go off in search of more exciting dreams, and ultimately come to understand that all they ever wanted
was each other. However, the way the story is told, with its platform stage, minimal set, cardboard
moon, confetti snow and small ensemble of eight actors is not only the story about the illusions of
young lovers and their parents, it is also about the illusion of the theatre itself which asks the audience
to join the actors in creating an imaginary world together. The show is American musical theatre at
its best, but Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt have borrowed theatrical devices from many cultures and
times. The narrator, El Gallo is the show’s Greek chorus; the Old Actor and his assistant Mortimer are
stock types from Italy’s Commedia dell’Arte; and the Mute is Oriental theatre’s “invisible” property man.
El Paseo Art Foundation’s production, under the direction of JoAnn Evans (South Padre Island) and
Mary Hartman (Laguna Vista), features a talented cast from across the Lower Rio Grande Valley. David
Hughston (South Padre Island) plays El Gallo, the narrator; Joe Alvear (Brownsville) and Rick Alf (Laguna
Vista) play the two fathers who believe they can use reverse psychology to make their children fall in
love. Elizabeth Chaney (Brownsville) and Zac Barba (Brownsville) are the two young lovers. Ashley
Perez (Brownsville) plays the ubiquitous Mute who moves about the stage, setting the scenes, playing
the wall and sprinkling the confetti rain and snow. Joel Brotzman (Harlingen) plays Mortimer, the Man
Who Dies and assistant to the Old Actor. Finally Ray Stewart (San Benito) takes center stage and the
spotlight as the Henry Albertson, the Old Actor, a role that is both poignant and comedic.
While the entire cast boasts excellent theatrical and musical credentials, Mr. Stewart brings to the
cast a level of professional excellence. Born in San Benito and a graduate of the University of Texas
in Austin, Ray served two years in the Army before moving to New York City where he studied at the
famed neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre. He is best remembered by television audiences for
the character of Daryl Dricoll on BARNEY MILLER, but he was a regular on the BARBARA MANDRELL and SUNSAN
ANTON series as well. He guest starred on such major shows as DALLAS, FALCON CREST, HILL STREET BLUES, HART
TO HART, FANTASY ISLAND, BOB NEWHART and BENSON. He spent two years as a member of the Lincoln Center
Repertory Company. His Broadway credits include POSTCARDS, A CRY OF PLAYERS with Anne Bancroft, the
LINCOLN MARK with Eva Marie Saint, KING LEAR with Lee J. Cobb, IN THE MATTER OF J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER, and
MARY STUART. Off Broadway, he was seen in SECOND CITY, COLETTE, Samuel Beckett’s PLAY, and of course,
like so many other Broadway actors, he worked in the cast of THE FANTASTICKS many times during his
years in New York. He also toured with the show in Japan on three occasions, playing over 30 cities. In
California, he appeared in fifteen different musical productions for the Long Beach Civic Light Opera, The
Sacramento Music Circus and the California Music Theatre in Pasadena. He also spent a season at the
National Shakespeare Festival in Diego. He retired to his home in San Benito and is now active in local
theatre.
Ray has shared many wonderful stories of his experiences doing THE FANTASTICKS including his eight
year quest to get a role in the show. His first audition for a musical in New York was his audition for
the original cast in 1960. It was also the first Broadway musical audition for his accompanist and Ray
describes it as a total disaster. But for the young actor never quit trying and every time a chance to
audition came up, he took it. Finally, eight years after the show opened, he was cast as one of the
father. His accompanist friend sent his a note of congratulations noting that Ray probably held the
record for the longest wait for a “call back” in theater history. After his first stint with the cast he
became a regular, appearing in the show between other jobs on and off Broadway. Now a close friend
of the show’s author and composer, he joined them as their personal guest for the 50th Anniversary
Celebration of THE FANTASTICKS at UT last year. He, Harry and Tom are all three UT graduates.
The El Paseo Arts Foundation production will strive to be as authentic a reproduction of the original New
York production as possible. The theater room at South Padre Island’s Convention Center about the size
of the original Sullivan Street Playhouse venue, and it is just the right size to be the intimate venue in
which the show was intended to be played. The platform stage and all the set pieces will be the same as
the New York production’s set and the Arts Foundation is renting the actual props, drapes and famous
logo curtain from the current production company in New York. It promises to be a “not-to-be-missed
production”; in fact, it’s a show theatre lovers will want to see more than once.
Performances for El Paseo Arts Foundation’s production of THE FANTASTICKS are scheduled for June 8th –
11th at 7:30 p.m., June 13th, 14th and 17th at 7:30 p.m. and June 18th at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are priced at
$15 for adults and $10 for students 16 and under. Tickets can be purchased at the South Padre Island
Visitors Center, Paragraphs Book Store and the Palms Resort on South Padre Island, Designer Consigner
in Port Isabel, online at www.elpaseoarts.org or by calling 956-943-4700.