Review: The Fantasticks at Ruskin Group Theatre
By: Sarah A. Spitz
PHOTOS: ANDY DEPUNG
Santa Monica, CA (The Hollywood Times) 7/27/2025 – Sometime in the early 1960s, I remember my mother and I attended a show in New York called The Fantasticks. I only recently remembered that I’d seen the original cast, featuring Jerry Orbach (Law & Order’s Detective’s Lennie Briscoe) as the character El Gallo. Other than the poignant song, “Try to Remember,” there was not much else I remembered about this musical.
Now, thanks to a beautiful new production by Ruskin Group Theatre in Santa Monica, I remember that I was, and still am, enchanted by this moving musical that tells the story of neighboring widowers, scheming to bring their children together in marriage. Knowing that the best way to get children to do something is to “tell them no,” they pretend to feud and build a wall between their properties to keep the kids apart…unaware that despite their (worst) efforts, they’d already fallen in love on their own.
The Fantasticks opened off-Broadway at the Sullivan Street Playhouse on May 3, 1960, and struggled, going against the tide of big, bold musical productions with its spare, stripped-down set, piano and harp replacing a full orchestra, and its deceptively simple plot. But the producer and its fans would not let it fail, and by the time the final curtain fell on January 13, 2002, its 17,162 performances had earned the title “World’s Longest Running Musical.” The music was written by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones (not that one!).
There’s a reason why this 65-year-old play has been staged thousands more times since then: it is innocent and magical; traits sorely needed in a troubled world. And what time could be more troubled than our own, which is why the Ruskin Group Theatre’s current revival is so very welcome. This beautiful production, directed by Elina de Santos, injects new youthful energy into a theatre classic.
As characters finish dressing onstage, the narrator, mysterious bandit El Gallo (Danny Bernardo), tenderly sings the nostalgia tinged Try to Remember with a warm, soothing voice. He will narrate throughout in mostly rhyming verse, introducing us to the characters, two fathers (Michael D. Cohen as Bellamy, Kiel Kennedy as Hucklebee), two children and the Wall (a mute role that is irresistibly handled by Raven Scott). Later we’ll meet some clownish actors (John Wuchte as Henry, Michael Redfield as Mortimer) similar in boastful style to the Pyramus and Thisbe players in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. El Gallo has a long history with them and hires them to perform an abduction scene.
Luisa (Sophie Pollono) shines with her radiant, expressive face and her sweet but powerful soprano voice. Handsome Matt (Rhett Hemingway) is 20 to Luisa’s 16, but he’s still a bit of a dork with the heart of a dreamer and a gentle tenor voice. Luisa’s longing for more than just her little life, but she still wants a happy ending. Matt sings that “there’s this girl,” and declaring his love, makes her swoon.
But the dads don’t know this yet, and they scheme to hire El Gallo to fake an abduction so Matt can rescue Luisa and be seen as her hero. Matt wins the day, the wall comes down, and as normalcy is restored, El Gallo, the two dads, the kids and The Wall strike a happy tableau, and are placed behind a make-shift curtain, as the first act ends.
While Act 1 is drenched in moonlight, the mood shifts as the sun comes out in Act 2. Luisa becomes kind of whiny; Matt sees an open road and decides to take it. And there’s El Gallo, exploiting them both in a way that will teach them life and love are not simple. They will learn to relinquish their naivete and longing, instead leaning into maturity, and realizing to appreciate all they have.
Scenic design by Bruce Goodrich is simple but effective: there are painted walls with crescent moons and stars, a small step-up stage, sheets for curtains, a giant prop trunk that doubles as an entry and exit for the players, stepstools and benches. Lighting designer Matt Richter makes moonlight feel seductive and the sunlight so harsh.
With costumes designed by Jennifer Pollono, in Act 1 Luisa is dressed in virginal white with red ribbons, while the fathers don striped shirts and vests and Matt wears a cardigan over a shirt and tie. In Act 2, Luisa now wears in hot red. Michael Redfield, as music director, plays piano and doubles onstage as Mortimer; Pollono has dressed both players in clownish plaids, stripes and mix and match colors. Choreography by Jennifer Oundjian and co-choreography Erik Hall plays a big role in all the action onstage, quite deftly and impressively executed by the performers.
There is joy to be had in the antics of the actors in Act 1, some fear for the safety of the kids in Act 2, and a tear to be shed by the time the story ends, with these haunting lyrics sung by El Gallo:
Deep in December, it’s nice to remember,
Although you know the snow will follow.
Deep in December, it’s nice to remember,
Without a hurt the heart is hollow.
Deep in December, it’s nice to remember,
The fire of September that made us mellow.
Deep in December, our hearts should remember
And follow.
On a slightly nostalgic note, this will be the final production for Ruskin Group Theatre in their current 23-year-old location. Come November, they’ll move into a brand-new, small theatre center, still at Santa Monica Airport, but filled with modern amenities, multiple stages and a rehearsal space. But try to remember this little theatre for the magnificent magic it has made in this small, creative and beloved space.
THE FANTASTICKS
For reservations http://www.ruskingrouptheatre.com or call (310) 397-3244
Ruskin Group Theatre
3000 Airport Avenue
Santa Monica, CA 90405
(ample free parking)
8pm on Fridays, Saturdays; 2pm Sundays
Closing: August 24, 2025
