'The Fantasticks' at WAMS - My Review

Waterbury Arts Magnet School (WAMS) graduating seniors traditionally present a Senior Showcase where all of the actors on the stage make their final appearance on a WAMS stage. For some it was their first peformance on the stage as an actor. For others it was the cap of the last four (or even seven) years at WAMS. Since many of the actors were committed to the phenomenal production of In the Heights, their final show has only been in intense rehearsal for two and a half weeks. Seven other students were coming to rehearsals for the last six weeks, helping in every way imaginable. Scott Schulte, the director of the show, is not completely sure, but thinks this show is number 43 of the productions the theatre department has put on this year. An amazing achievement, but "it is hard not to when you have as many motivated students as WAMS is privileged to have."

This year the chosen show was The Fantasticks, a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on a play called "The Romancers" ("Les Romanesques") by Edmond Romand. It involves two neighboring fathers (here both played by girls) who trick their children into falling in love by pretending to feud. The rest of the plot is a bit reminiscent of a comedy by Shakespeare. Producer/Principal Leo P. Lavalee writes that  "the poetic book and breezy inventive score, including "Try to Remember" and "I Think its Gonna Rain" helped make this show [very] durable," and in fact, the world's longest running musical. He also thanks his faculty team "for their unbridled dedication to making this production an overwhelming success."

These students certainly are naturally talented but their years at WAMS have certainly nurtured them into seasoned performers. Mariana Vagnini was the musical director/vocal coach, while Richard DeRosa was a visiting guest artist and played piano in the elevated pit (actually in a balcony at the back of the Apron Stage.) The very simple set was designed by Andrew Albert, Thomas Stoehrer, Shardejah Roberts and Briana Santiago.

Four young ladies, danced beautifully in little bursts throughout the performance. Alana Amao played a Mute, not an easy thing to do. Juliana Barron played Mortimer the traveling actor with the fine comic actress Paola Vargas as the lead actor Henry. Colleen Carmona was a strong actress and singer as the father of the girl, and Megan Ezeji was her perfect match as the father of the boy.

The boy Matt was played by Tim Lagasse (who has the same name but is no relation to my cousin the puppeteer Tim Lagasse.) This young man has a wonderfully clear tenor voice with a terrific range. He sang beautifully the supremely gifted Olivia Conforti as the girl Luisa. Her operatic voice is a joy to behold. The final member of the cast was Bethany Russo as El Gallo, a kind of villian/narrator who sported a black cape and mask. This young lady was also a strong actress with a great alto voice. She bears a family resemblance to her sister Rebecca Russo, most recently seen in Guys and Dolls in Thomaston.

These seniors decided to go with an older musical that required a small cast and simple set and they did a great job with it. Congratulations to all of them as the graduate to bigger and more challenging adventures.

The Fantasticks continues this weekend