The Fantasticks is a musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics and a book by Tom Jones, loosely based on the 1894 play Les Romanesques by Edmond Rostand. It tells an allegorical story concerning two neighboring fathers who trick their children into falling in love by pretending to feud. The show's original off-Broadway production ran a total of 42 years (until 2002) and 17,162 performances, making it the world's longest-running musical. The musical was produced by Lore Noto. It was awarded Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre in 1991. The poetic book and breezy, inventive score, including such memorable songs as "Try to Remember", helped make the show durable. Many productions followed, as well as television and film versions.
Adaptations (1)
The Fantasticks was adapted into a 1995 film.
The Fantasticks1995 · film · 86 min · dir. Michael Ritchie · IMDb ↗Widowers Amos and Ben plot to romantically unite Amos' daughter Luisa and Ben's son Matt by pretending to feud and forbidding the teens to associate, knowing they will resist their fathers' interference. As the youngsters fall in love, the fathers plot to end the 'feud' by hiring a travelling showman to fake an abduction and allow Matt to 'rescue' Luisa.
