Richard Skipper Celebrates Tom Jones and the reImagined The Fantasticks
b'Tom Jones wrote the book and lyrics, and Harvey Schmidt wrote the music for The Fantasticks, which closed January 13, 2002, almost 42 years after its opening on May 3, 1960. It is the longest running production in the history of the American theatre. To mark the 60th anniversary of its founding, the Provincetown Theater has announced a unique and celebratory lineup of productions for the 2023 season in Provincetown, MA, the historic birthplace of Modern American Theater. With all shows being produced at the company\'s playhouse at 238 Bradford Street in Provincetown from May thru December, Opened July 10, the Provincetown Theater is honored to be producing the East Coast premiere of a newly re-imagined and re-gendered adaptation of the landmark musical The Fantasticks by its original librettist and lyricist, Tom Jones. While the beloved score and storyline remain intact, Jones\'s re-vision of the show finds the show\'s young lovers Matt and Louisa have become - Matt and Lewis. Moreover, they aren\'t being pushed into each other\'s arms by their prankster, gardening fathers, but rather by their prankster, gardening mothers! With equally fresh twists on all the characters, The Fantasticks\' legendary librettist Tom Jones states: "This will be a fresh, new production, swept clean and filled with light and color. It is still The Fantasticks: a celebration of the magic of the theater, where, combined with the imagination of the audience, we can bring an exciting new world to life. The point of the show," Mr. Jones declares, "is the same. Whether a boy and a girl, or two boys -- falling in love, being hurt, growing up: it is the same." To be directed by Provincetown Theater Artistic Director David Drake, with John Thomas serving as Musical Director, this summer\'s East Coast premiere of The Fantasticks in Provincetown is a musical theater event not to be missed.'