About the work
Die Romanticker — known in English as The Fantasticks — is a chamber musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and book and lyrics by Tom Jones, loosely based on Edmond Rostand’s Les Romanesques (1894). The two-act version premiered off-Broadway at the Sullivan Street Playhouse in New York on 3 May 1960.
Plot
Young Matt and Luisa grow up on neighbouring properties whose fathers have staged a wall and a feud between the families to draw the two together. The mysterious El Gallo stages a fake abduction for the young lovers; disillusionment leads to a breakup before Matt and Luisa realise they belong together.
Cultural significance
With 17,162 performances by 2002, The Fantasticks became the longest-running musical in theatre history. Its German-language premiere, under the title Die Romanticker, took place in 1965 at the Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna.