The ups and downs of first love are explored to engaging, tuneful effect in the Ruskin Group Theatre’s 65th-anniversary revival of Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt’s The Fantasticks, though for me at least, the world’s longest-running musical begins somewhat to outstay its welcome at around the two-hour point.

There’s a quaint charm to The Fantasticks’ tale of young lovers Matt (Rhett Hemingway) and Luisa (Sophie Pollono) tricked by their matchmaking fathers Hucklebee (Kiel Kennedy) and Bellomy (John Wuchte) into believing they are falling in love despite the disapproval of their supposedly feuding dads.

Add to that a dashing narrator known only as El Gallo (Danny Bernardo),  a pair of ancient actors straight out of a Fractured Fairytale (Michael Redfield’s Mortimer and Wuchte’s Henry), and a character known only as “The Mute” (Raven Scott) and you have the makings of an entertaining chamber musical, though who could have predicted back in 1960 that its original off-Broadway run would manage to span the Presidencies of Dwight D. Eisenhower and George W. Bush?

 It certainly helped that two of its songs, “Try To Remember” and “Soon It’s Gonna Rain,” quickly became standards covered by everyone from Barbra Streisand to Ed Ames to Harry Belafonte to Duke Ellington to Gladys Knight & The Pips, and that gems like “I Can See It” and “They Were You” undoubtedly inspired many a listen to the Original Cast Recording.

Whatever the reasons for its long-running success (topped off by an off-Broadway return engagement that lasted from 2006 to 2017), if you’re a musical theater lover, chances are you’ve seen The Fantasticks at least once.

Unlike previous “high concept” SoCal productions such as South Coast Repertory’s, which added Vegas-ready magic tricks and illusions to the mix, or Pasadena Playhouse’s, where the whole thing took place in an abandoned theater, director Elina de Santos plays it relatively straight at the Ruskin and lets the musical’s inherent charms do the rest.

And indeed, Act One is about as captivating as first acts get, with Matt and Luisa declaring their love in no uncertain terms despite hints from the get-go that for Luisa at least, love with the boy next door may not be enough to fulfill her desires for “Much More.”

Still, having survived an “abduction” engineered by the two fathers (thanks in large part to Matt’s derring-do), a happily-ever-after ending would appear to be in the cards.

Not so, however, once the magic of moonlight has been replaced by the harsh reality of a blazing sun, and it’s about here that I wish that at some point in The Fantasticks’ now 65-year history, book writer Jones (who died just two years ago) had lopped off twenty minutes or so of the musical’s too long second act.

 Still, even running a hefty two-and-a-half hours, there’s more than enough in the Ruskin revival to sing about, most particularly its absolutely splendid cast beginning with its two irresistible leads.

Not only does Pollono’s girl-next-door prettiness have a saucy edge that suits Luisa to a T, her exquisite soprano soars opposite Hemmingway’s Timothy Chalamet-eque Matt, a floppy-haired, blue-eyed charmer with pipes to match as the romantic pair discover The Fantasticks’ core message—“Without a hurt, the heart is hollow”—in their journey from innocence to knowledge to disappointment to an understanding of the true meaning of love.

Bernardo has never been more dashing or debonair or dare I say sexy as he is as El Gallo while the beguiling Scott observes the action with emotions ranging from bemusement to sadness without uttering a sung or spoken word.

 Kennedy and Wuchte are delightful as the initially conspiratorial (and later battling) dads Hucklebee and Bellomy, and at the performance reviewed, audiences got the double treat of seeing Wuchte step in for Michael D. Cohen as Bellomy as he and Redfield stole scenes left and right as wacky strolling players Henry and Mortimer.

There’s not a lot of dance in the Ruskin’s The Fantasticks, but what there is has been charmingly choreographed by Erik Hall and Jennifer Oundjian, with music director Redfield providing live keyboard backup alongside fellow pianist Nisha Sujatha Arunasalam and Wuchte doing triple duty as percussionist.

 Scenic designer Bruce Goodrich and scenic painter Angie Pop combine talents to give The Fantasticks an invitingly woodsy backdrop, Jen Riley and Elisa Green’s costumes add to the show’s magical appeal, and Matt Richter’s lighting makes all of the above pop.

The Fantasticks is produced by Jennifer Pollono, John Ruskin, and Michael R. Myers. Nicole Millar is production stage manager. Casting is by Victoria Hoffman. Judith Borne is publicist.

 After tens of thousands of productions and hundreds of thousands of performances, I don’t expect cuts to be made in The Fantasticks any time soon, if ever, but that doesn’t stop me from feeling the musical would benefit from a significant trim.

Fortunately, overlong or not, there is much in the Ruskin Theatre’s terrifically cast and performed revival to captivate and enchant this reviewer if not quite enough to leave me breathless.

Ruskin Group Theatre, 3000 Airport Avenue, Santa Monica.
www.ruskingrouptheatre.com

–Steven Stanley
August 2, 2025
Photos: Andy DePung

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Tags: Los Angeles Theater Review, Ruskin Group Theatre, Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt