Of course, not every classic musical needs a cast of several dozen, any more than classic films need a cast of thousands.
One of the most charming, witty musicals is The Fantasticks, which opened off Broadway in 1960 and was performed consecutively 17,162 times until 2002. The names of its creators, Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones, have never achieved the fame of George and Ira Gershwin or R & H. But so what? I trust that Soulpepper director Joseph Ziegler and his cast will do it justice.
This is a tiny, perfect show — with lovely songs and touching lyrics — and I feel that I can safely predict that it will be a delight. And I can hardly wait to see how they handle the “rape song,” in which an abduction of the young girl takes place. Always edgy, if funny, a half century of raised consciousness about the rights of women has made this once-uproarious song exceedingly awkward. Let’s see what the great minds at Soulpepper do to save it.
The Fantasticks runs Feb. 8 to Mar. 24 (soulpepper.ca).