The Amazing Story of The Fantasticks: America’s Longest-Running Play

Frequently called the ‘Miracle on Sullivan Street’ (in New York’s Greenwich Village), The Fantasticks has been the most-often performed musical around the world, setting more national and international longevity records than any musical in theatre history. With the advent of the show’s New York closing, Donald C Farger and Robert Viagas have completely updated the 1991 edition of their best-selling book. The Amazing Story of The Fantasticks is the detailed history of how this fabulously successful show by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt came into being, and how and why it succeeded. In tracing the evolution of the show from an idea to a cultural phenomenon, the book takes readers through the countless auditions to attract backers, the search for theatres to hold try-outs (which indicated disaster), and eventual popular success. Among the actors who have performed in the musical are Anna Maria Alberghetti, Richard Chamberlain, Elliott Gould, Bert Lahr, Liza Minnelli, Robert Goulet, and Glenn Close. This updated edition includes new photos of the show’s many productions and stars, recent interviews with performers, writers, and others associated with the musical, and surprising revelations that could not be told until the show’s closing on off-Broadway.