The Fantasticks

This abridged version of "The Fantastics" has strong and weak aspects, but worth watching. I especially enjoyed Susan Watson as the "girl"; she acted and sung the part perfectly (the other Imdb reviewer is crazy to say she sings poorly !). John Davidson sung beatifully, though it was a bit hard to buy him as an innocent "boy"; a bit too much show business personna. Watson and Davidson were both beautiful to look at, if that's of consequence.

Montalban was excellent casting for El Galo. As an actor; he found effective, sometimes unusual ways to act the poetic text. His singing was passable, though inferior to those who've usually played the part.

Fun to see Lahr and Holloway ham it up as the fathers, though they seemed under rehearsed.

Negatives: Using a full orchestra, playing cliche'd, mushy orchestrations, was a mistake which hindered the vocals. All the charming lightness of the original instrumental accompaniment was gone.

A lot of material was cut out of this one hour version of the play. Some I didn't miss, but some I did. It seemed to me that some of the text was new, not necessarily bad, but needless revision to the original.