“We went to see ‘The Fantasticks’ the other night, ” says Mia Farrow as Rosemary Woodhouse, making small talk to a nurse who is taking her blood in a scene from the 1968 movie “Rosemary’s Baby.” Only eight years old at that time, the show had already become an icon of popular culture. Decades later, the longest-running musical of all time is easy to take for granted, as even a bad cast can make its special charms work. When staged in an intimate space by a stellar cast, as this Theo Ublique Theatre Company production is, one can only marvel at the underlying layers beneath its deceiving simplicity. When Jeremy Trager intones us to “Try to remember /the kind of September /when life was slow/ and oh, so mellow…” we willingly want to “follow, follow, follow…” along to meet Luisa and Matt, played with the perfect naiveté by Sarah Ann Giocomo and Derrick Termby. Even the smallest parts are extravagantly cast and the ensemble sings and acts with perfect enthusiasm for the timeless source material (Dennis Polkow).
Through January, 2006 at the No Exit Café, 6970 N. Glenwood; (773)743-3355.
