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SHOW TUNES S4 EP 7: The Fantasticks (1960)

Album Art - The Fantastics (1960)
Album Art - The Fantastics (1960)

In which parents trick their kids into falling in love and the show runs for forty-two years

This week on Show Tunes with Kate Botello, we break open the Vinyl Vault for "The Fantasticks" by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt.

The show ran Off-Broadway for forty-two years!

Two neighboring fathers conspire to get their kids hitched, with increasingly elaborate plots.

Biggest Hit:

"Try to Remember"

Notable Other Tunes:

"Much More"
"Metaphor"
"This Plum is Too Ripe"

Cringe Alert/Trigger Warning/It Was the Time:

Now called the "Abduction Ballet" in current productions, the original script and score use a version of the ancient Roman word "raptus" for an abduction or raid.

Yes, unfortunately, it's called the "Rape Ballet." At the time, they were kind of going for a classicism/highbrow joke, but in modern times it's a cringer.

In the interest of historical preservation, we're playing the entire disc exactly as recorded. In the song, "It Depends on What You Pay" you'll hear the regrettable "r" word many, many times.

Other than that (ahem) - the rest of the show is charming.

Musical numbers:

  1. Overture
  2. Try to Remember
  3. Much More
  4. Metaphor
  5. Never Say No
  6. [TRIGGER WARNING] It Depends on What You Pay
  7. You Wonder How These Things Begin
  8. Soon It's Gonna Rain
  9. [TRIGGER WARNING] The Rape Ballet/Happy Ending
  10. This Plum is Too Ripe
  11. I Can See It
  12. Plant a Radish
  13. Round and Round
  14. There is a Curious Paradox
  15. They Were You
  16. Try to Remember (reprise)

Kate Botello is a host and producer at Classical IPR.