Peter Amster had seen ‘The Fantasticks’ before. Not really a surprise for a professional theater director, considering it’s the longest-running production in the history of show business. After 42 years and more than 17,000 performances on a bare stage at the Sullivan Street Playhouse in New York City, Amster thought it was time to spruce things up.

Amster began researching the origin of the musical – an 1894 French play called ‘Les Romanesques’ – and decided to base the set entirely around the work of surrealist artist Rene Magritte.

The result is entirely new take on ‘The Fantasticks,’ which opens tonight and will run until May 17 under Amster’s direction to conclude the 2007-08 season at Syracuse Stage.

‘I needed to find a way to magnify and expand the piece without losing its charm,’ Amster said. ‘What was a goofy whimsical element that could match the whimsy and strangeness of ‘The Fantasticks?’ …This will help make it strange again like when the show first opened.’

To create a sense of intimacy, playwrights Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt staged the original production on a crude wooden platform – perfect for the small off-Broadway Sullivan Street venue.

Since Syracuse Stage is bigger, Amster knew he had the opportunity for more. With the help of scenic designer Scott Bradley, he chose to use Magritte’s work to tell the story of two young neighbors falling in love and their fathers building a wall between the two houses to keep them apart.

With its catchy score featuring notable songs like ‘Try to Remember,’ and themes prevalent for college students, Amster hopes the show especially appeals to Syracuse University students who wouldn’t otherwise see a musical.

‘They love the idea of romance, but they have to go through a bunch of horrible things to realize what love really means,’ Amster said. ‘That process of moving from innocence to experience is exactly aimed at a person who is going through college.’

Like all Syracuse Stage productions, ‘The Fantasticks’ is an Actors’ Equity Association performance, so all eight actors are professionals. That includes SU senior and musical theater major Alexa Silvaggio, who was cast as The Mute, in her first Equity production merely weeks before she graduates.

During rehearsals, Silvaggio had the opportunity to work with Tony and Emmy Award- winning actors and will earn her union card with her first performance. Syracuse Stage regularly casts one student in certain shows, so it’s not uncommon, but an exciting and important experience nonetheless.

‘There’s a quality of assuredness and self-preparedness the professionals have come in with that really raises the bar,’ Salvaggio said. ‘They’ve been wonderfully incredibly supportive.’

Besides serving as the final show of the current season, ‘The Fantasticks’ also marks the end of an era in Syracuse Stage as it will be the final show chosen by former artistic director Robert Moss, who announced his decision to step down in June 2006. Before officially resigning, he set the lineup for this year.

Timothy Bond took over in July 2007, and he unveiled his first season earlier this month.

Although Amster had not previously worked with Moss or Syracuse Stage before this production, he recognizes its importance to the theater and hopes to give Moss a proper sendoff.

Said Amster: ‘What I’m trying to do is make sure the last show under is artistic directorship is a graceful valedictory.’

jediamon@syr.edu

Published on April 22, 2008 at 12:00 pm