Didya hear – the musical The Fantasticks is heading back to New York.  The original off-Broadway production ran 42 years and closed in 2002.  It returned in 2006 and ran until 2017.  Now it’s back – but this time on Broadway itself.  It opens on November 16^th and is scheduled to run until February 7^th (for now).  This new production also has a twist – the romantic leading couple has changed from Matt and Luisa to Matt and Lewis.  Yes, a same-sex couple.  What hasn’t changed is the role of the Narrator, called El Gallo.  He’ll be played by our very own Zane Phillips.  As a preview, a video of Zane singing the iconic “Try to Remember” can be found on BillyMasters.com.

We have some good news for those of you who haven’t had a chance to see The Rocky Horror Show on Broadway.  It has extended through May 30^th.  And our very own Margaret Cho is taking over as the Narrator.

Since I’m still overseas, I have a few more theatre reviews to share.  First is a new translation of The Cherry Orchard at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London’s West End.  This past summer, the Chekhov play was staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon with Helen Hunt, Kenneth Branagh and Bill Pullman.  While it’s odd to have two productions of the same play in quick succession, it seems the critics preferred the version I saw.  This translation by Conor McPherson was witty, moving, and relevant to today’s world.  Kristin Scott Thomas appears in the pivotal role of Lyubov.  I’m not a fan of her films, but onstage I find her incandescent.  She presents enormous vulnerability without losing her steely resolve.  And she has a faint patrician air about her that is reminiscent of a young Siân Phillips.  The play was uniformly well-cast, but special kudos to Stephen Mangan, who made the role of the serf-turned-master into a multi-layered and conflicted character.

Then there was Jesse Tyler Ferguson in Tru.  His tour de force as Truman Capote at the Menier Chocolate Factory was, in a word, exceptional.  Another word that applies is magnificent.  From the moment he made his entrance, he was no longer the Jesse I knew, nor Mitchell from Modern Family, nor even Mason from Take Me Out.  His Truman was a completely different person – not a carbon copy of Capote, but a strong, well-thought-out portrayal of the man.  It’s clear why people enjoyed spending time with the famed writer and raconteur.  In Jesse’s capable hands, Capote was entertaining, insightful, dishy (to a point), self-reflective (to a lesser point), and vulnerable.  The set design by Paul Farnsworth was also astonishing.