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Performance Riverside, Riverside, CA       

THE FANTASTICKS
Landis Performing Arts Center

Those who view Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods for the first time might recall a much older musical with similar themes. The Fantasticks, the long-running Off-Broadway fable (1960–2002) by librettist-lyricist Tom Jones and composer Harvey Schmidt, introduced the idea of a "happily ever after" first act followed by a post-intermission musing on the downside of eternal bliss. The joy of director Nick DeGruccio's rendition is the way he has seamlessly dovetailed the piece's timeless satire, broad humor, and bittersweet qualities into a magical experience bristling with lyrical beauty. He bookends the story with an ingenious new framing motif that is best kept a surprise, giving the durable show an added dimension of ethereal grace.

Fears that this intimate, delicate tuner might be dwarfed in the cavernous Landis auditorium are quickly allayed. DeGruccio and his design team have found imaginative ways to interpret the work as a fanciful spectacle without losing an ounce of its crucial depiction of life-size emotional truths. To seal his triumphant vision, the director assembled an exemplary ensemble cast. Damon Kirsche is stellar as El Gallo, part narrator and part manipulator who pushes the action along from the sidelines. Kirsche delivers soaring ballads with power and panache and achieves a charismatic performance. As the young lovers, Peter Musante and Barbara Chiofalo work together beautifully, bringing their characters' virtues and foibles to life with sterling vocalizations and nuance-rich portrayals. The comic foils—John Massey Jr. and David Beaver as the scheming fathers, and Nils Anderson and Roger Ochs as the buffoonish actors—deftly handle the comic pratfalls and ironic humor, providing perfect counterpoint to the poignant romance. Jordan Beck has no dialogue as The Mute but remains a formidable presence throughout; in high-flying moments, he sprinkles raindrops and snow onto the characters, like manna from heaven.

Don LeMaster's conducting and music direction are superb. His piano accompaniment and Celia Chan Valerio's golden harp tones—both from onstage—serve the evergreen score splendidly. In trying to remember a better Southern California staging of this classic—September or otherwise—I find that nothing comes to mind.  - Les Spindle, BackStage West

"Musical lives up to name...'FANTASTICKS': The Performance Riverside production boasts a host of standout elements. ...director Nick DeGruccio captures the simplicity of the little show that could.  That's no surprise when you consider DeGruccio directed last season's "1776," which brought the theater five Ovation Awards, some of Southern California's highest theatrical honors.  The cast earnestly conveys DeGruccio's faithful direction, which manages an intimacy usually found in a venue much smaller than the Landis Performing Arts Center."  

- The Press-Enterprise