Ageless Wonder Long-Running Comedy ‘The Fantasticks’ Uses Soft Touch To Keep Going

“The Fantasticks” is the Cal Ripken of musical comedies.

This show opened on May 3, 1960, at the Sullivan Street Playhouse in New York. More than 15,000 performances later, it is still running on the same stage, eight times a week.

It is easily the longest-running show in New York theater history, as well as the longest running musical-comedy anywhere, ever.

Why? Maybe because it has a sweet, gentle, whimsical tone that perfectly captures the innocence and romanticism of the ‘60s. (Not to mention the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s.)

Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt’s score includes the instantly recognizable standard, “Try to Remember,” as well as novelties such as “Plant a Radish, Get a Radish,” and “Soon It’s Gonna Rain.”

For whatever reason, the show’s charm has endured, and not just in New York, either. Over 12,000 productions of “The Fantasticks” have been mounted around the world, starring actors as diverse as F. Murray Abraham, Robert Goulet and Elliott Gould.

Make that at least 12,001. The Spokane Civic Theatre offers its version beginning Sunday. This production is an unusual collaboration between the Civic and Kendall Feeney, the artistic director of Zephyr, best known for cutting-edge chamber music (motto: “Chamber music with an attitude”). Feeney is the musical director of the show and the Civic’s John G. Phillips is the director.

Phillips said he is going back to the original conception of director Ward Baker back in May 1960. Entertainment Weekly magazine recently described that original version as “a theatrical confection that spun gold out of the simplest elements - a boy, a girl, a few sticks and a wooden moon.”

Phillips said the production is “deceptively simple.” What looks like simplicity takes a great deal of work to perfect.

The subtitle of “The Fantasticks” is “A Parable About Love,” and that’s a good way to describe it. Based on Edmond Rostand’s “Les Romanesques,” it’s about two neighbors who build a wall between their homes as a form of reverse psychology. They want to kindle a romance between their children, Luisa and Matt, and they figure the best way to do so is to pretend to oppose it. Eventually, they hire a caped rogue (El Gallo) to stage a mock rape so Matt can rescue Luisa and appear to be a hero.

Things don’t quite work out as planned.

In the Civic’s production, Colleen Evans plays Luisa, Kevin Partridge plays Matt and Kent Kimball plays El Gallo. The rest of the cast includes Kevin Kuban, Phil Mitchell, Nik Adams and Kate Vander Wende.

Kendall Feeney will perform the music on grand piano, accompanied by Jon Hamar on string bass and Robert Rees on percussion.

By the way, that world-record run of “The Fantasticks” is almost like a parable itself, this one about perseverance and pluck. The show barely survived its first few months, but then went on to win the Vernon Rice Award for the Best Off-Broadway Show of the season. Then “Try to Remember” became a hit and the small 150-seat theater began to sell out. And continued to sell out.

A 1995 movie version starring Joel Grey was never released - how do you market a whimsical movie with a rape theme?

But in one New York theater, “The Fantasticks” has been more than just a successful show. It has been The Franchise. The original backers, who put up the $16,500 budget, have earned a healthy 10,000 percent on their investment.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color photos

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: PREVIEW The Spokane Civic Theatre will open “The Fantasticks” on Sunday, with shows continuing May 22-24, 29-31, June 1, 5-8 and 11-14. All shows are at 8 p.m. except Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Tickets: $15 on Fridays and Saturdays, $12 on Thursdays and Sundays, $12 for seniors and $9 for students. Call 325-2507 for reservations.