The Fantasticks
Porchlight Music Theatre at Theatre Building Chicago

Chicago Tribune- Recommended

"...To his credit, Kelly has cast Matt and Luisa as nerds, rather than the usual innocents. Sean Effinger-Dean’s Matt needs only a few pencils in his protected pocket. And Emma Rosenthal, who plays Luisa, has a big head, strong jaw and a refreshingly honest approach to the role. Rosenthal is a character actress rather than the usual ingenue, and her work is constantly fascinating and gives the show an atypically juicy emotional center."
Read Full Review

Chris Jones

Chicago Sun Times- Recommended

"...Sean Kelly's direction is spirited. Music director Eugene Dizon has done his usual first-rate work. And Tom King Clear (piano) and Jennifer Ruggieri (harp) illuminate the show's winningly poetic score."
Read Full Review

Hedy Weiss

Time Out Chicago- Somewhat Recommended

"...The cast’s musical delivery is robust, though its comic business is a bit predictable. While the ensemble plays broadly, Effinger-Dean and Rosenthal as the young lovers sketch remarkably detailed, sweetly comic portraits, utterly charming in their teenage bumbling and swooning. Here, Matt and Luisa throw themselves into love, rather than just falling into it. Rosenthal’s powerful voice is showcased, yet it’s their duets, especially the closing “They Were You,” that mesmerize. They lead us into, and back out of, that tender but unrealistic cocoon in which love can contain us, and they draw us into the kind of performance that’s worth missing a glorious September afternoon."
Read Full Review

Megan Powell

Chicago Reader- Highly Recommended

"...Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt's landmark 1960 musical, about two teenagers who find true love only after hard experience shatters their romantic illusions, is highly susceptible to saccharine sentimentality. But in Porchlight Music Theatre's superb rendition, director Sean Kelly and choreographer Andrew Waters avoid that trap by emphasizing the show's quirky humor, wry wisdom, and melancholy undertones."
Read Full Review

Albert Williams

NewCity Chicago- Somewhat Recommended

"...Its special charms can work even with a mediocre cast and most of us have probably seen high schools and community theaters pull it off quite movingly. How then, to explain the current production presented by Porchlight Music Theatre that is so underwhelming? Casting is the main issue here; the narrator often speaks and sings so softly that he can barely be heard over the piano and the harp, throwing away the show’s signature song, “Try to Remember” along with the show’s poetic prose. The young girl titters and screams and is a pure caricature while the young man is played so wispily—think Wally Cox as a teenager—that he comes across more as a friend than a love interest. One of the fathers, in fact, looks younger than the young boy, so credibility is constantly strained."
Read Full Review

Dennis Polkow

Windy City Times- Recommended

"...A Fantasticks erring on the side of neo-Brechtian ironi-hip, on the other hand, would deflate under its own leaden feet. But by keeping the ambience simple and uncluttered to an almost spartan degree, this Porchlight Music Theatre production maintains the correct balance, thanks in no small part to a cast who attack their commedia-trad roles with warmth, gusto and a knowing wink or two."
Read Full Review

Mary Shen Barnidge

Centerstage- Highly Recommended

"...this production also shines because of three of its leading actors. Equity actor Jeff Parker, so captivating in last season's "Nine," is sexy, subtly nuanced and in excellent voice as El Gallo. As Matt, the always reliable Sean Effinger-Dean finally gets to demonstrate his versatility as actor and musician (even taking over at the piano at one point). However it is newcomer Emma Rosenthal who will steal your heart with her stunning, spot-on portrayal of Louisa, a 16-year-old child who grows into a young woman before your very eyes. Theater is ephemeral; but this production will live with you for a long time."
Read Full Review

Colin Douglas

Chicago Theater Blog- Somewhat Recommended

"...This production makes one question the relationship between the two fathers. Do they have a fondness for each other beyond friendship? Do they want their offspring to marry just so that they can share a sense of a domesticated relationship they could not achieve in their current situations, or did their characters just lack the masculinity that I expected from a play written in the 1950’s?"
Read Full Review

Timothy McGuire

Edge- Somewhat Recommended

"...For me, some of it works and some of it doesn’t. At times the interpretations seem a bit too self-aware and come dangerously close to mocking the material. But, as a whole, Porchlight Music Theatre’s production continues the group’s tradition of producing quality musical theatre in new and creative ways."
Read Full Review

Robert Bullen

ChicagoCritic- Recommended

"...The all around production is entertaining and sure worth seeing. The Fantasticks contains humor, sweet romance and a wonderful score. Tom King Clear on piano and Jennifer Ruggieri on the harp effectively poured Schmidt’s score into our ears. This is a smart love story nicely presented."

Tom Williams

Steadstyle Chicago- Somewhat Recommended

"...This is as I said earlier a very simple play, written at first when the writers were in college and later expanded, and so there is no real set or costuming and the choreography by Andrew Waters was ample enough. There were a few lighting glitches, but I love "The Fantasticks" and even with the weaknesses that I have talked about, this is always a fun show. This production may improve as the weeks go on and perhaps Artistic Director L. Walter Stearns will add some input. I would have loved to see how he would have created the final picture."
Read Full Review

Al Bresloff