Steadstyle Chicago
	March 2010 Theatre Review by Nicholas Ryan Lamb
	The Fantasticks “The Fantasticks”, a poetically witty musical written by Tom Jones with catchy tunes by Harvey Schmidt, explores the innocence of two young lovers and their fathers who use reverse psychology to bring their kids together.  Their plan works until the wall dividing them is torn down and the true feelings come forth.  This is when a professional abductor is hired and a grand display of deception gets thrown into the mix. A joy to watch from beginning to end was the role of Luisa epitomized by ensemble member Devon Candura.  She captured the naivety and owned the character without flaw, plus her vocal performance had an amazing floating sweetness about it.  Though a word was never uttered out of Jes Mercer’s mouth she balanced out the need for overacting and the precision of pantomime.  The emotion that she was able to articulate with a simple glance could be mutely heard by all.  Erik Kaiko, vocally, was a nice choice but his performance lacked in the area of discovering how the poetry could drive the character.  He was however a nice opposition to Devon and his character change felt natural.  The fathers, played by Will Hare and Peter Verdico, regaled us with some funny duets but didn’t always bring the energy that are needed in this show.  Michael Reyes, playing the part of El Gallo, brought a side to the character, the hurt and inner turmoil, which made it well rounded.   His vocal timbre is one that I could listen to all day long full of bass tones and a nice upper register.  I have to bring up again the importance of energy.  This is a fast paced show and the amount required in each character should leave you breathless.  One, well really two aspects that I couldn’t ignore were the ages of the “traveling actors”, Mortimer (Nathan Drackett) and Henry (Nick Lake).  The show requires men of a less than young age and clearly the lines in the script indicate this.  The performance by Nick Lake was enjoyable, setting aside the age snafu, and resembled that of Jim Dale as Dr. Terminus in Pete’s Dragon.   Nathan Drackett, however, wasn’t able to find the comedic timing and left the performance loose and without the precise comedic beats.  The set was simple and clever and I enjoyed the sun/moon lantern though the script states it as cardboard.  The lighting was effective but I can appreciate the difficulty in lighting that space.  The show, overall, was quite enjoyable and anyone taking a seat in the house would find something new to laugh at every show.  “The Fantasticks” is playing at City Lit Theater located at 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave.  For tickets call 1-800-838-3006 or visit www.prometheantheatre.org.   About Nicholas Ryan Lamb Nicholas Lamb is a graduate from Illinois State Universities acting program with a secondary focus on directing.  He is also a graduate from SAK Universities improv school.  As an accomplished actor he has performed in dozens of shows with his most notable credits including the title role in "Scrooge" the musical, Adan in Milcha Sanchez Scott's "Roosters" and Nicely Nicely Johnson in "Guys and Dolls".  He was last seen on stage as Matt in "The Fantasticks".  Some of his most known directing works are "Barefoot in the Park", "The Secret Garden", and the well received "Birdbath".  Not only has he worked numerously with acting and directing but his training also includes the technical areas of theatre as well as film work.  He has directed in both Illinois and Florida for over 7 years.  He most recently directed the children's shows of "Charlotte's Web", "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp", and "Pinocchio".  His palette for theatre is that of a culinary connoisseur.  Theatre is something to go in with an open mind, which is how he approaches each show he critiques.