Come September, I Will Remember...

The Fantasticks
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the 2000 film based on the musical, see The Fantasticks (film).
The Fantasticks

Original Off-Broadway cast album cover
Music Harvey Schmidt
Lyrics Tom Jones
Book Tom Jones
Basis Les Romanesques by Edmond Rostand
Productions 1960 Off-Broadway
2007 Off-Broadway revival

The Fantasticks is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones. It was produced by Lore Noto. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the play "The Romancers" ("Les Romanesques") by Edmond Rostand [1], concerning two fathers who put up a wall between their houses to ensure that their children fall in love, because they know children always do what their parents forbid. After the children do fall in love, they discover their fathers' plot and they each go off and experience things in the world. They return to each other and the love they had, having learned from the world and made an informed decision. Elements of the play are ultimately drawn from the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, its story winding its way through Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream as well as Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore and Rostand's play.

The show's original production off-Broadway ran a total of 42 years and 17,162 performances, making it the world's longest-running musical.[1] It was awarded Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre in 1991. The poetic book and breezy, hummable score, including such familiar songs such as "Try to Remember," helped make this show so durable. Many productions followed, as well as television and film versions. The Fantasticks has also become a staple of regional, community, and high school productions virtually since its premiere. The show is very budget-friendly because of its small cast, two-person orchestra and minimalist set design.

*******************************

Musical numbers

Act I

Overture
Try to Remember - El Gallo, Luisa, Matt, Hucklebee, Bellomy
Much More - Luisa
Metaphor - Matt, Luisa
Never Say No - Hucklebee, Bellomy
It Depends On What You Pay - El Gallo, Hucklebee, Bellomy
alternately: Abductions - El Gallo, Hucklebee, Bellomy
Soon It's Gonna Rain - Matt, Luisa
Rape Ballet (changed to Abduction Ballet) - Company
Happy Ending - Company

Act II

This Plum Is Too Ripe - Matt, Luisa, Hucklebee, Bellomy
I Can See It - Matt, El Gallo
Plant A Radish - Hucklebee, Bellomy
Round And Round - El Gallo, Luisa, Company
They Were You - Matt, Luisa
Try to Remember - El Gallo



Minor Controversy

Although the musical was a success, The Fantasticks' book became somewhat controversial due to its use of the word "rape." The term has, however, subsequently been dropped from the show and the current version playing Off Broadway does not use the term rape. In the original production, when El Gallo offers to stage the phony kidnapping of Luisa, he refers to the proposed event as a "rape" -- although he makes it clear that he uses the word only in its traditional literary sense (Latin "rapere") of "abduction", explaining that many classical works, including Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock, use the word in this sense. (See raptio and bride kidnapping.) In his song "It Depends on What You Pay" he describes different kidnapping scenarios -- some comic or outlandish -- that he classifies as the "Venetian rape", the "Gothic rape", the "Drunken rape", etc. However, as the public issues of rape and sexual assault became more of a delicate subject during the play's long run, some people in the audience became puzzled by the use of the word.

To deal with changing audience perceptions, the book was edited to reduce the number of usages of the word "rape" and to replace them with other words, usually "abduction". In addition, in 1990, Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, the authors, wrote an optional replacement piece called "Abductions", which uses the music of the "Rape Ballet" (although this song did not replace "It Depends on What You Pay" at the Sullivan Street Playhouse, where, with the edits made in the book, audiences did not seem to have much difficulty in accepting the song). MTI (Music Theater International), who license the show, has made "Abductions" available, both music and lyrics, as an alternate choice in the event of someone being offended by the word "rape".

************************************



TRY TO REMEMBER Lyrics



Music: Harvey Schmidt
Lyrics: Tom Jones
Book: Tom Jones
Premiere: Tuesday, May 3, 1960

Try to remember the kind of September
When life was slow and oh, so mellow.
Try to remember the kind of September
When grass was green and grain was yellow.
Try to remember the kind of September
When you were a tender and callow fellow.
Try to remember, and if you remember,
Then follow.



Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow,
Follow, follow, follow, follow.

Try to remember when life was so tender
That no one wept except the willow.
Try to remember when life was so tender
That dreams were kept beside your pillow.
Try to remember when life was so tender
That love was an ember about to billow.
Try to remember, and if you remember,
Then follow.

Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow,
Follow, follow, follow, follow.

Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow,
Follow, follow, follow, follow.

Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow,
Follow, follow, follow, follow.

Deep in December, it's nice to remember,
Although you know the snow will follow.
Deep in December, it's nice to remember,
Without a hurt the heart is hollow.
Deep in December, it's nice to remember,
The fire of September that made us mellow.
Deep in December, our hearts should remember
And follow.