2009 – 2010 SEASON THE FANTASTICKS Book and Lyrics by Tom Jones Music by Harvey Schmidt CONTENTS Directed by Victoria Bussert 2 The 411 3 A/S/L & RMAI 4 FYI 5 HTH 6 F2F 7 RBTL 8 B4U 9 IRL 12 SWDYT? Major Sponsors: James G. & Catherine Berges Barbara & Russell Browning Steve & Linda Finerty Jean-Paul & Isabelle Motupet MISSOURI ARTS COUNCIL At The Rep, we know WELCOME! that life moves The desire to learn, insatiable when awakened, can fast—okay, really sometimes lie dormant until touched by the right teacher or fast. But we also the right experience. We at The Rep are grateful to have the know that some opportunity to play a role supporting you as you awaken the things are worth desire for learning in your students. slowing down for. We believe that live theatre is From the first notes of “Try to Remember” the narrator of one of those pit stops worth making and are excited that you The Fantasticks invites us to follow into a world of young are going to stop by for a show. To help you get the most love and callow youth. The moment your students meet Luisa bang for your buck, we have put together WU? @ THE and Matt—two lovers separated by a wall and their fathers’ REP—an IM guide that will give you everything you need supposed animosity—they will identify the joy and pain to know to get at the top of your theatergoing game—fast. of first love. We’ve all felt life’s hopeful abandon, confused You’ll find character descriptions (A/S/L), a plot summary enlightenment and emotional betrayal. How much more (FYI), biographical information on the playwright (F2F), intense are these feelings when they are first encountered historical context (B4U), and other bits and pieces (HTH). than when remembered from the distance granted by time? Most importantly, we’ll have some ideas about what this all The simple set of platforms and lanterns supports a swirling means IRL, anyway. world that reminds us of the universality of the experience. The audience—your students—will have to engage their imaginations to provide walls, fields and a bandit’s hiding place. Your students will embrace this theatrical coming-of- age story even as they start on their own journeys. It would be a good idea to take a minute on the bus to give your students these quick theatre etiquette reminders: The Teacher’s • This show has an intermission; there will be time for Lounge bathroom breaks before the show and partway through. In an effort to make our • The actors can hear the audience and appreciate the educational materials accessible laughter, gasps and quiet attention to action. However, to students and easy for educators talking, moving around and eating is very distracting to incorporate into the classroom, to others and can dampen the energy of what is our study guide is written in a student-oriented format. happening on stage. We hope that you will circulate this guide among your • Pictures, phone calls and texting are not allowed at any students in the weeks preceding your visit to The Rep, time during the performance. encouraging them to browse it before and after class and as time allows, using it as a launch point for both pre- and Live theatre won’t allow your students to take a passive post-performance discussions.You may also want to visit role—they must work with us to create the experience which our website, www.repstl.org, for additional information takes the learning deeper. Our unique ability to fuse words including educational games, activity suggestions and and images onstage allows your students to explore new behind-the-scenes information. Any materials, either ideas as well as excites their imaginations. We will do our from this guide or from our website may be reproduced part so your students will be stirred to understandings and for use in the classroom. As always, we appreciate self-awareness while delving into new and familiar worlds. your making live theatre a part of your You are doing your part by using The Rep to extend your classroom experience and welcome intellectual and aesthetic curriculum. Thank you! your feedback and questions. Show Me Standards: CA 2, 3, 5, 7; FA 2, 3, 4, 5; SS 2, 6 Marsha Coplon, Director of Education and Illinois Learning Standards: 1, 2, 5, 16, 18, 25, 27. Is he the good guy or the bad guy? It’s up Luisa’s button-maker father, BELLOMY, to us to decide EL GALLO’s true role as he plays his part in the scheme to get the kids instigates and narrates. together. LUISA is beautiful and innocent, but very As part of their plot, the two fathers hire naïve in her search for true love. HENRY, an actor who specializes in reciting MATT thought he knew what he wanted in Shakespeare, to abduct Luisa. life, but may have to go out in the world to MORTIMER gets to use his special acting actually find it. skill, dying, as he assists Henry with the HUCKLEBEE, Matt’s father, is pretending to abduction. feud with his friend and neighbor in order to push their children into each other’s arms. READ MORE ABOUT IT We encourage you to explore the following books, movies and websites for more information. Shakespeare, Viagas, Robert and Donald Rostand, Edmond. Cyrano de William. Romeo C. Farber. The Amazing Story Bergerac. Signet Classics, 2003. and Juliet. Simon & of The Fantasticks. Limelight Another of Jones and Schmidt’s Schuster, 2004. Inspiring Editions, 2005. Want to know inspirations for The Fantasticks countless stories of young more about how The Fantasticks was Rostand’s Les Romanesque. lovers, Shakespeare’s became Broadway’s longest- Check out his most famous work timeless work contributed to running musical? Check out this in this romance. Jones and Schmidt’s update. book that gives details about the show’s journey. Emma, 191 minutes, Miramax, DVD, 1999. Another story about http://www.talkinbroadway. matchmaking gone awry, this com/spot/jonesschmidt1.html Jane Austen classic stars Gwyneth Nancy Rosati talks with Tom Paltrow as the title character. Jones and Harvey Schmidt about their historic collaboration in this detailed interview. 3 THE PLAY BEGINS with our narrator, El and Luisa is less than thrilled with his loss, Gallo, and the most famous song of the so the two begin bickering. He’s put off by piece, “Try to Remember.” El Gallo leads us her immaturity and she makes fun of his along a lovely little story of a pretty young mock heroics. Finally they separate—the girl, Luisa, and the handsome neighbor boy, romance is over. Matt decides to follow the Matt. They are in love, but forbidden to be road to adventure beyond their garden and together by their fathers, who are feuding. Luisa vows to find someone new. The fathers even built a wall between the TIME PASSES and El Gallo informs us that it two houses to keep the children apart, but it is October. Hucklebee and Bellomy are both hasn’t worked. If anything, the feud and wall in their gardens working to strengthen the have only made the pair’s affection stronger. wall, when they begin to reminisce about the BUT WAIT, maybe things aren’t as they good old days when they met to scheme and seem. Hucklebee and Bellomy, the love birds’ play poker. They talk about their children, fathers, are actually not feuding at all! how Matt hasn’t been seen in so long and Instead they are great friends (who share how Luisa does nothing but daydream. The a love of gardening), and have only built fathers find that they both much prefer their this deception to try and urge their children dependable vegetables, and before long they together. Their scheming has worked, but find themselves friends again. now they have a new problem—they can’t ALSO OUT IN the garden, Luisa is lost in a decide how to end the feud so they can all fantasy when she sees her bandit, El Gallo up be one big happy family. in a tree. She finds him very handsome and THE FATHERS COME up with a new plan asks him to take her away. He gives her a to hire a man to “abduct” Luisa. She will paper mask through which she sees Matt on never be in any real danger, of course, with his journey. In reality, Henry and Mortimer the hired help, but Matt will certainly spring are with him and they are harming him. He to her rescue and thus end the feud. They is burned and beaten, but as long as Luisa hire El Gallo, Henry and Mortimer to play the sees him through her mask, she finds him parts of the abductors, and soon the plan unharmed. El Gallo directs her to the house is in action. The bumbling actors only flub to pack and she rushes inside, excited for their job a bit as they kidnap Luisa and allow her new adventure. Meanwhile, Matt comes Matt to defeat them and rescue her with his home. He has seen the two together, but wooden sword. Everyone is delighted! The wishes only for Luisa to be happy. He asks two fathers and their children all embrace El Gallo not to hurt or leave her, but El in a group hug, thrilled with their happy Gallo once again defeats Matt and leaves. ending. The four freeze in this tableau to Luisa returns, heartbroken at her lover’s end the Act.