October 17 – November 17, 2024
Island City Stage | IslandCityStage.org
By Denny Patterson
Are you ready to experience The Fantasticks like never before?
The longest-running musical worldwide has been given an extraordinary update by its original book writer, Tom Jones, giving audiences a heartwarming queer romance. This new LGBTQ+ rewrite now features two young gay men, Matt and Lewis (and their mothers), as the central story, exploring falling in love for the first time and self-discovery.
Island City Stage is the third theater in the country to perform this new version.
The Fantasticks will play October 17–November 17, 2024, and OutClique recently caught up with director Andy Rogow to talk more about it.
Denny Patterson: How excited are you for The Fantasticks to play at Island City Stage?
Andy Rogow: I’m very excited! We worked very hard to be able to do this version. We lobbied the publisher who holds the rights to the show to allow us to do it, so I’m very excited that they gave us permission. It’s also great for me to revisit the show because, when I moved here 26 years ago, The Fantasticks was the first show I directed here.
Denny Patterson: This is a new LGBTQ+ rewrite that was made by the original book writer, Tom Jones. What can audiences expect?
Andy Rogow: If they’ve seen it before, they will recognize the story. Tom didn’t change anything about how the story is told, or the songs, style, and tone. He literally just did a little rewriting so that the female role could be made male. The love story is basically the same, and I think that was the point. It doesn’t matter whether it’s boy/girl or boy/boy. It’s how young people fall in love, the fantasies they have about love, and how parents can manipulate their children. That’s all the same, no matter what the gender is.
Denny Patterson: And is there anything you ultimately hope they take away from this production?
Andy Rogow: I hope they come away with an appreciation of poetic storytelling and that they appreciate how wonderful this score is. So much of what’s out there right now is pop, and this is a true musical theater score that is incredibly melodic with very clever lyrics. I think it truly celebrates traditional musical theater, and I hope people appreciate that.
Denny Patterson: Island City Stage is now the third theater in the country to perform this queer version. As the show’s director, what is your overall vision?
Andy Rogow: I wanted to make sure we honor the show’s original intent and that we tell the story as it was meant to be told. It’s very old-fashioned. There’s a lot of poetry in it, and a lot of the show is written in verse, but I also wanted to give audiences a reason as to why we were doing the same-sex version, other than just to do it as a gimmick. I’m not always in favor of that. I felt there needed to be a reason to tell it this way, so I am making it kind of a memory play. One of the characters remembers falling in love and their initial spark of romance.
Denny Patterson: Can you talk about how this new season celebrates and explores stories about families?
Andy Rogow: All of them explore a family relationship in some way or another, and they explore the challenges of being in a family. Sometimes we love those family members, sometimes we hate them, sometimes we can’t be without them, and sometimes we want them to go far away. That’s what we’re exploring in these different shows. They all explore family in a little different way.
Denny Patterson: Was there a specific reason you made The Fantasticks the opener?
Andy Rogow: We have often opened with a musical. I think it just creates a lot of energy and excitement to start off the season.
