THEATER | Heartfelt musical

The Fantasticks is a funny and romantic musical playing at the Hoogland Center for the Arts, Jan. 11-13 and 18-20. The world’s longest-running musical, The Fantasticks, by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, is one in which you might know a few of the songs. The famous score includes “Try To Remember,” “They Were You” and “Soon It’s Gonna Rain.” The narrator, El Gallo, asks the audience to use their imagination and follow him into a world of moonlight and magic. A boy and the girl fall in love, grow apart, and finally find their way back to each other after realizing the truth in El Gallo’s words that “without a hurt, the heart is hollow.” Directed by Rich McCoy, the cast includes Matthew Vala as Matt, Kara DeWall as Luisa, and Gus Gordon as El Gallo, with Jane Hartman on piano, Mary Myers, drums, and Gene Haas on bass.