Fantasticks

I’ve read somewhere that The Fantasticks is the longest running musical in the world. I’ve also heard the same claim about Cats, Les Mis and Phantom of the Opera. I’ve seen those last two, even owned the CDs. Love it or hate it, nearly everyone has an opinion about Cats. But only my hard-core theater friends are familiar with The Fantasticks. In the story, Matt and Louisa hide a budding romance from their feuding fathers. The two teens are unaware that their dads are actually good friends with a scheme to become fathers-in-law. The dads hire a band of travelling actors to stage a mock abduction so Matt can save the day, but things don’t turn out exactly the way they planned. Unless you’ve seen or performed this play, there’s good a chance that the only song you know from the score is the first one: “Try to Remember.”