A reimagined version of Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt's record-breaking Off-Broadway musical The Fantasticks is currently in development for Broadway under the direction and choreography of Tony winner Christopher Gattelli (Death Becomes Her, Newsies).

Jones and Schmidt's The Fantasticks tells an allegorical story loosely based on Edmund Rostand's 1894 play The Romancers (Les Romanesques), concerning two neighboring parents who trick their children into falling in love by pretending to feud. Reimagined as a contemporary gay love story, this new version of the world’s longest-running musical was completed by Jones before his death in 2023.

In this re-envisioned Fantasticks, the central romantic pair—traditionally Matt and Luisa—are now Matt and Lewis, reinterpreting the story’s allegory of love, longing, and reconciliation through a gay lens. The show’s original pair of fathers, who secretly orchestrate the clandestine love affair between their children, are now mothers.

The adaptation was first presented in 2022 at Flint Repertory Theatre in Flint, Michigan, in collaboration with then-Flint Repertory Producing Artistic Director Michael Lluberes. The revision has subsequently been developed at Provincetown Playhouse in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and Coachella Valley Repertory in Cathedral City, California.

“I knew that to be done properly it would require a lot of rewriting, especially of lyrics. The more I thought about it, the more interesting it seemed. And when I actually began working on it, I became more and more enthusiastic,” Jones told Playbill in 2022. “I had great fun doing it. I hope people have great fun viewing it.”

During its original run at the Sullivan Street Playhouse in Greenwich Village, The Fantasticks logged a record-breaking 17,162 performances. When the original production closed in 2002, news of the closing made the front page of The New York Times. In 2006, the revival opened at The Theater Center, directed by Jones. That production closed June 4, 2017, after playing 4,390 performances in the Jerry Orbach Theatre, for a combined total of 21,552 performances in New York—still the longest-running musical production worldwide.

The reimagined production will feature new orchestrations by Tony nominee Sam Davis, scenic design by Jason Sherwood, and casting by The Telsey Office's Patrick Goodwin. General management is by DR Theatrical Management. Dan Shaheen represents the musicals of Jones and Schmidt.

Casting, additional creative team members, and performance timeline will be announced in the coming months.

Producers are Broadway & Beyond Theatricals, Daryl Roth, and True North Theatricals.