The passing of one of The Fantasticks
Jerry Orbach played the original El Gallo in The Fantasticks, which debuted on May 3, 1960, and, during its tenure at the 153 seat Sullivan Street Playhouse, became New York’s longest running show — finally closing on January 6, 2002. For four decades, a little ad appeared daily in the New York Times; you could not discern from it that the show was so famous.
Jerry Orbach died yesterday, and so part of Broadway tradition passes. Here’s a little of what the world was like a quarter century ago:
Broadway stars, from left, James Earl Jones, Julie Harris, Angela Lansbury and Jerry Orbach pose on stage after receiving Tony awards at the 23rd Annual Tony Awards (news - web sites) ceremony at New York’s Mark Hellinger Theatre, in this April 20, 1969 file photo. Orbach, who died of prostate cancer Tuesday night, Dec. 28, 2004, had won best actor in a musical for ‘Promises, Promises.’ Jones won best actor in a play for ‘The Great White Hope.’ Harris won best actress in a play for ‘Forty Carats,’ and Lansbury won best actress in a musical for ‘Dear World.’
The show may have closed, but it looks as though the pendulum is swinging back — if only a little — to the world The Fantasticks showed us. Say a prayer for Jerry Orbach.