The age-old tale of boy meets girl is presented when the longest-running musical of all time comes to Kelsey Theater. PinnWorth Productions presents “The Fantasticks” weekends from Friday, September 25, to Sunday, October 3. A reception with the cast and crew follows the opening night show.
Drawing on plot elements reminiscent of Shakespeare and Rostand, “The Fantasticks” chronicles the budding romance between a boy named Matt and his neighbor, Luisa. Their fathers hatch a plot to bring them together by appearing to be feuding, knowing the teens will be even more drawn to each other if they believe their love to be forbidden. They do fall in love, but are then separated by family events and their need to mature and explore the world. When the lovers finally reunite, they possess a deeper understanding of life and an even greater appreciation of each other.
With book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt, the original Off-Broadway production at the Sullivan Street Playhouse in Greenwich Village premiered in 1960 and ran for a record-breaking 17,162 performances. After closing in 2002, a revival directed by Jones opened in 2006 at the Theater Center, where it continues to captivate theater-goers almost 10 years later.
Benjamin Menahem of Plainsboro portrays El Gallo, the narrator and the bandit. “It really is a wonderful part and I find myself connecting with it more and more with every rehearsal,” he says. “I definitely see El Gallo as the puppeteer of the story.
“It’s almost as if he’s telling his own story, a tale of caution, through the young lovers Luisa and Matt,” he says. “I’d say the best example of this is when he speaks about a paradox ‘there is a curious paradox that no one can explain, who understands the secret of the reaping of the grain who understands why spring is born out of winters labyrinth pain, or why we all must die a bit before we grow again. I do not know the answer I merely know it’s true, I hurt them for that reason, and myself a little bit too.’”
Born in Queens, Menahem has lived in Plainsboro for 14 years. His mother, Susan Turney-Menahem, is a hairdresser and a teacher; his father, Eric, a CPA, died when he was seven; and his stepfather, Marc Purus, is a car dealer with Benchmark Auto Sales, where Menahem also works.
His younger siblings include Carly, 20, a junior at Rutgers; Jonathan, 19, a working photographer pursuing a career in education; and Samuel, 17, a freshman at the University of Rhode Island. They are all graduates of High School South.
“I was always influenced by music and loved to sing, which my parents always encouraged,” says Menahem. “I was not exposed to theater until I was older.”
At South he was involved in choir for all four years as well as football, wrestling, stage crew, and lighting crew. He was involved with concert versions of “HMS Pinafore” and “Pirates of Penzance” with South’s choirs.
“My first time on stage was my junior year in high school,” says Menahem. “I had torn my ACL and meniscus and was unable to participate in wrestling that year.” As an alternative he auditioned for “South Pacific,” the spring musical. He was cast as Emile de Bec. “It was a wonderful experience. I was used to singing on stage, but acting and dancing were completely new experiences for me, and I had to put in a lot of work to get where I needed to be.”
Menahem also became active with Pirate Players at South. The students in the high school direct and act in shows that have a moral and put them up as assemblies for students in the elementary and middle schools as a way to teach a lesson, he says. One was called “Cucumber Phil,” in which he played Buster the Evil Pig and Goofy Lester, and the other was a show called “Appetites,” in which he played the role of Andy, a wrestler struggling with bulimia. He graduated from South in 2011 and attended Mercer Community College for two years.
Menahem has played the role of Chad, the leading man, in “All Shook Up,” a prince in several productions of “Into the Woods,” the pharaoh in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” Link Larkin in “Hairspray,” and was in the ensemble of “Aida” and “Pirates of Penzance.” He was also Prince Eric in “The Little Mermaid” and George Berger in “Hair.”
His next role will be playing the part of Monty in Pennington Players’ production of “Violet” at Kelsey Theater. “‘Violet’ is a show set in the 1960s about a girl in the South whose face is disfigured by an axe blade in an accident when she is a young girl,” says Menahem. “She grows up and goes on a journey across the country to receive a miracle from a radio preacher and she believes her face can be healed. While on her journey she meets two young soldiers (Monty and Flick) who are friends and both fall for her. The rest of the show is your classic love triangle.”
What’s next for Menahem? “I am auditioning in NYC every chance I get but with an average of 300 to 500 applicants per audition it’s a tough road,” says Menahem. “My girlfriend is currently in Japan working a contract for Tokyo Disney Land and when she comes back in April our plan is to move closer to the city and attend a conservatory for musical theater.”
The Fantasticks, Kelsey Theater, Mercer Community College, 1200 Old Trenton Road, West Windsor. Weekends, Friday, September 25, through Sunday, October 4. $20. 609-570-3333. www.kelseytheatre.net.
