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Some Broadway transfers of Off Broadway hits come swiftly. Others take a little longer. As in, a few decades.
But now, after 66 years and a 42-year run as an Off Broadway institution (then another 11 years at the Snapple Theater Center), The Fantasticks will make its Broadway premiere this fall as part of Second Stage Theater's 2026-27 season. The production will begin previews on October 22 and open on November 16 at the Hayes Theater, marking the first time the legendary musical has ever played Broadway. But this won't be the same version of the show that's run for generations.
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This production will present the classic musical through a contemporary lens, updating the central romance to be between two men whose mothers hatch a plan to bring them together. This iteration of the musical premiered in 2022 at Flint Repertory Theatre and has subsequently been seen in productions at Provincetown Playhouse in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and Coachella Valley Repertory in Cathedral City, California.
Written by Tom Jones (who also conceived the new adaptation) and Harvey Schmidt, The Fantasticks opened Off Broadway in 1960 and went on to run for an astonishing four decades, becoming the longest-running musical in the world. The new production will be directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Christopher Gattelli (Schmigadoon!, Death Becomes Her) and feature a revised book and lyrics by Jones himself, who died in 2023.
Also announced as part of Second Stage's 48th season are the Broadway premiere of Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner Branden Jacobs-Jenkins's Gloria (which made its Off Broadway debut a decade ago) in spring 2027, along with three Off-Broadway productions: Bryna Turner's The Visitors, Miranda Rose Hall's Work of Devotion and Naomi Lorrain's how to roll a blunt.
“Second Stage Theater has always been the premiere home for contemporary works by both emerging writers and established masters, and this upcoming season is no exception,” Artistic Director Evan Cabnet said in a statement. “I am incredibly proud of the five productions we’ll be bringing to life, including two world premiere plays from up-and-coming playwrights whose singular voices constantly surprise, challenge, and move me: Bryna Turner and Miranda Rose Hall, as well as a New York premiere from Naomi Lorrain, whose stunning new play was developed here at Second Stage through our invaluable Judith Champion Reading Series.
"On Broadway, we will welcome Branden Jacobs-Jenkins back to the Hayes, where his hit plays, Appropriate and Purpose, both found great success, as well as the long-overdue Broadway premiere of the legendary musical, The Fantasticks, which has been given a distinctly contemporary point of view in this reconceived production."
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