May 3, 1960: The Fantasticks opens off-Broadway

On this day in 1960, The Fantasticks opened at the Sullivan Street Playhouse in New York’s Greenwich Village, the first of 17,162 consecutive performances.

The story, written by Tom Jones (not the Welsh sexbomb), tells of two fathers who stage an abduction to get their children to fall in love. Jones also wrote the libretto and performed in the original cast under a pseudonym; Harvey Schmidt composed the music, which included

The most notable original cast member was future Law & Order star Jerry Orbach, who played El Gallo, the narrator who doubles as the consultant hired to stage the abduction (or “rape” as it’s referred to in the play – the same sense as the “rape” of the Sabine women).

Here’s Orbach many years later performing the opening (and perhaps most famous) song, “Try to Remember”.

The original run closed on January 13, 2002. It was revived off-Broadway in 2006; it continues to run today at the Jerry Orbach Theatre in Midtown Manhattan.

For more on The Fantasticks, visit the official site.