Matt then delivers a speech about his love for Lewis, calling over the wall between their yards in a mock literary way (“Metaphor”). Lewis comes to fantasize about the experiences he wants to have in his life (“Much More”). That ploy is played out in the song “Never Say No.” Rather than coming between the kids, their mothers (fathers in the original book), played by Diane Hill and Catherine Shaffner, feign standing in their way with a pretend feud because they know if they say “No” to the young love, it will actually drive the kids closer together. It’s about two teenagers who fall in love. The story is pretty simple, but the telling of it is full of allegory and complexity. Everyone gets baptized by the colors of the rainbow. There is a wonderful addition of multi-colored confetti that accumulates over the course of the play, shaking from a machine mounted above the stage, and shaking from above as rain, sun, happiness and serving as the water in the tub. The Mute (played radiantly by Janet Haley) is also dressed in white, right down to her white painted fingernails. A white backdrop has a “window” with a solid panel about fifteen feet higher than the stage that slides up and down like a dumbwaiter door, allowing characters to ascend a back-stage ladder and appear in another place outside of the yards when the script calls for it. The set design, by Shane Cinal, is all white, with a white bathtub on wheels and a white bench across the back of the stage. Instead of a multi-piece band, the sole accompaniment is by Music Director Brian E. Lluberes has stuck to a minimal set in part to honor the concept of the original production. It was time for a meaningful update as critics have occasionally referred to the play as “The Anachronistics,” and “The Optimistics.” And this show is a triumph in pumping new life and oxygen into this timeless play. “Rethinking the show through the lens of two young gay men reveals so much about first love, identity and self-discovery.” “Transforming the boy and the girl into two boys (Matt and Lewis) is an idea I’ve had for a long time,” says Lluberes. It is a re-imagining that has rejuvenated a play that some directors, audiences and critics had put in the category of…”What? Again?” For most of the 62 years of its existence since opening in New York, the creators have made it available to almost anyone to put on, making the show one of the most accessible and frequently done shows from college drama programs to community theatre. But after thinking more, he not only agreed but collaborated on more changes with Lluberes, saying changing pronouns wouldn’t be enough to frame the new idea. He wrote to the surviving creator of the show, 94-year-old Tom Jones, to ask whether he could simply change pronouns in the script and music. ![]() FLINT, MI–When Michael Lluberes, Artistic Director at The Flint Repertory Theatre, last December decided to act on his vision of a re-imagined The Fantasticks, with a couple of gay teenage lads instead of the boy and girl that is written into the 60+ year old story, he could have hardly imagined the outcome.
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