Phillyist Reviews... The Fantasticks

I was sitting in the audience at Mum, and I realized I've never actually seen a production of The Fantasticks. I knew most of the music, so I just kind of took for granted that I'd actually seen the show. But I was wrong, so somehow, my first-ever viewing of the longest-running musical in history was performed by puppets.

And there's the fear that, when you're seeing an experimental staging of a traditional show, you're not going to get it because you're not familiar with the show to begin with. Or you'll be missing something in the interpretation. Fortunately, Mum's production of The Fantasticks won't leave you with any questions as to what the play is about or how it's supposed to be staged. Just imagine the puppets as tiny little people.

Wait... Did I say "puppets?" Yep. It is Mum Puppettheatre, after all. But we're not talking your Avenue Q-style puppets. These puppets (beautifully designed by Chris Sickels of Red Nose Studios) look more like small dolls with articulated arms and heads than like big furry Muppets. Their mouths don't move—but what movement they do have is so wonderfully expressive that you almost don't notice. Director Aaron Cromie, a veteran puppet artist (whose work I admired both at the Arden and, in non-puppet form, during the Fringe Festival) did an excellent job of getting his actors to work with the puppets as extensions of themselves, rather than just as playthings. After a while, you could almost forget that there were people controlling them at all.

Which isn't to say that the actors faded into the background. Quite the contrary: each shone in his or her individual roles: Bev Appleton as the narrator, and more especially as the bandit El Gallo, Kim Carson as Luisa, Austin Durant as Luisa's father, Artie Sievers as Matt, Chris Faith as Matt's father, and Dave Jadico as, well, everyone who's left (and often all in the same scene). It was a fantastic, and strong, collection of vocal talent (accompanied by the gifted Matthew Wright). The lyrics were crystal clear, even to the extent that I caught a few lyrics I hadn't understood from the original (forty-year-old) cast recording, and the dialogue was delivered with excellent timing and emotion. (If you go see the show, focus on the puppets, but once in a while, do take a look at the actors' faces, especially Carson's and Appleton's. They still manage to be fantastically expressive, considering that they're talking to or through puppets for two hours.)

In all, this is one of the most engaging and inventive theatrical productions I've seen in Philadelphia this month (that doesn't sound too impressive until you realize that just about every theatre company in the area seems to have a production opening in April), and definitely worth buying tickets for.

Image via Mum.