When the curtains rise for a presentation of “The Fantasticks” this Friday, March 18, at 8 p.m. at the Hudson School, it won’t be the first time Anne-Marie Marcazzo has directed the comical musical. Eleven years ago, Marcazzo directed the show with, among other students, Laura Catlaw and Gabe Hernandez. Now that Hernandez and Catlaw have moved on and entered the entertainment industry, the two are returning to the Hudson School to help Marcazzo put on the show once again.
Catlaw is working as the choreographer, and Hernandez serves as the narrator, El Gallo, and the music director.
“I worked with Gabe last year and he said, ‘Why don’t we do the Fantasticks?,’ ” Marcazzo said in an interview last week. “It’s a very sweet show. It’s very simple, touching, and it’s the longest running play in American theatre.”
The 1960 musical is about two neighbors who trick their children into falling in love.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and senior citizens.
________
Marcazzo said the tale is “very universal” and something “everyone can connect to.”
“The simplicity and universality is what made it last so long,” Marcazzo said.
Permission granted
Being granted the opportunity to direct the musical wasn’t a foregone conclusion for Marcazzo.
“Usually you can’t do shows that are playing within 80 miles of New York City,” Marcazzo said. So the school had to receive special permission from the producers. The permission was granted without problems this year.
Marcazzo said she has unsuccessfully encountered the issue previously.
“The first time I can remember running into problems was when we wanted to do ‘The King and I,” Marcazzo said. The producers would not give the rights to the school to perform the play.
“I always thought it was a little ridiculous,” Marcazzo said. “Who is not going to go to Broadway because high school kids are putting on a show?”
However, the rights to perform exclusively are sometimes written in the royalties of the Broadway performers.
A long history at Hudson School
Marcazzo has worked as the head of the theatre department since 1978, when she discovered and moved to Hoboken. Her move to Hoboken coincided perfectly with the fall 1978 opening of the Hudson School.
“We put on about three to four plays a year usually, but sometimes it’s more,” Marcazzo said. “There are several minor productions as well, but the major productions are done after school, and students give up what would be their free time to rehearse and perform.”
The initial preparation for opening night takes place months in advance. Marcazzo said the student-actors began meeting two days a week in January to learn the songs. In February, the cast met at least three times a week to choreograph the pieces. Now, the group is putting on the finishing touches before opening night on Friday.
The youngest actor is Robert Stark, who is in the ninth grade, and the rest of the cast is made up of 11th grade students.
“[The Fantasticks] is a great story,” she said. “It’s a story told mostly through song.”
Marcazzo invites all members of the Hoboken community to come see the show.
“The Fantasticks” will be performed on March 18 and March 19 at 8 p.m., and on March 20 at 6 p.m.
The cast includes Robert Stark, Sierra Shade Holland, and Claire Hill, all students at the Hudson School and residents of Hoboken. The book and lyrics are by Tom Jones, and Harvey Schmidt wrote the music for the performance.
The Hudson School is a small, independent school for grades 5-12, and was founded in 1978 by Suellen Newman, who is still the director of the school.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and senior citizens. For tickets and reservations, contact Marcazzo at (201) 659-8335, ext. 317.
Ray Smith may be reached at RSmith@hudsonreporter.com