NewsExclusive: A Trove of Rarely-Seen Photos of The FantasticksThe long-running Off-Broadway production of The Fantasticks narrowly averted closing May 3 when a pair of deep-pocketed fans stepped in to help producers with a sum that they said will keep the show running for the foreseeable future.
By
Robert Viagas, Matt Blank
June 20, 2015
As a celebration of the show's rebirth, producer Catherine Russell released to Playbill.com a treasury of rarely-seen photos from throughout the show's original run (1960-2002) at the Sullivan Street Playhouse in Greenwich Village, and its current revival (2006-present) at the Jerry Orbach Theatre near Times Square.
Seated on stage: Alice Cannon and Ty McConnel. Seated on bench (L-R): Charlie Blackburn and John High. Standing (L-R): James Cook and John Cunningham, in a 1963 photo by Sam Seigel.
The first ad for The Fantasticks, listing the original cast. Top price during previews is listed as $3.90. Top price after the opening — skyrocketed to $4.90 ("tax included").
Photo of a 1990 U.S. tour that starred Robert Goulet (front) as El Gallo. Also in the cast (L-R) Gerry Vichi (currently on Broadway as Shylock in Something Rotten!), Neil Nash, Glory Crampton and Ralston Hill.
(L-R): Jerry Orbach, Rita Gardner and an unidentified man, possibly Kenneth Nelson, reunite for TV host Mike Douglas in the mid 1960s.
Lyricist Tom Jones (a.k.a. Thomas Bruce) working with original El Gallo Jerry Orbach in a photo (signed in 1966 but taken in late 1959 or early 1960) from Orbach's personal collection.
See more exclusive pics here!
0
of
Exclusive: A Treasury of Rarely Seen Photos of The Fantasticks
Filmed in 2023, the one-night-only event featured Brian Stokes Mitchell, Audra McDonald, Peter Friedman, and more from the Ahrens and Flaherty musical's original cast.
Surrounded by period-accurate, 19th-century holiday decorations lit via candlelight, the 70-minute production is based on Dickens' own script of the classic.