The Classic Theatre of San Antonio this week opens a new edition of “The Fantasticks,” one of the most popular musicals of all time (the original production ran over four decades). Adapted for South Texas, “The Fantastikos” is a bilingual version of the show that musical director Jaime Ramirez says is “beautifully rendered” by director José Rubén De León.
“There’s entire verses which are in Spanish, and then the next verse will be all in English,” Ramirez says. “There’s a good symmetry to it. And some of the songs sound beautiful in Spanish… a lot of [the show] really does lend itself to that language.”
Ramirez adds that whether you’re a fan of the musical already, and regardless of proficiency in either language, anyone should be able to follow along with the story, which is about two households that trick their children into falling for one another by feigning a neighborly feud.
The production will take place at the San Pedro Playhouse’s cellar theater, and because of space limitations, features a pre-tracked score. But to keep things as live as possible, Ramirez and harpist Nathan Sharplin spent three days recording the music for the show in bite-sized increments, so that even within a song, the sound engineer can “cue” the next musical element.
“The actors will be able to play and have more nuance in their performance,” Sharplin says.
“Special shout out to our engineering team!” Ramirez adds enthusiastically. “Meredith Shuman has taken on a lot of this in organizing. So much of this is preparation… so much of this is planning.”
You can see and hear the results from September 12 – 29 at the San Pedro Playhouse, as Classic Theatre of San Antonio presents “The Fantastikos.” Tickets are available online now: https://ci.ovationtix.com/35749/production/1190702
To hear more from Jaime Ramirez and Nathan Sharplin, as well as some of the music they recorded for the show, use the audio player at the top of this page.
