How's "Abduction" Sound?
Just Fantastick to this sicko father
BY Nick Keppler Houston Preess
The musical The Fantasticks, running at the Texas Repertory Theatre, is a kind of reverse Romeo and Juliet. Unlike the Montagues and Capulets of Verona, the Hucklebees and Bellamys of Anytown, USA know that kids always disobey their parents, so they fake a family feud to ensure a romance between young Matt Hucklebee and Luisa Bellamy. To allow Matt a chance to prove his love, Mr. Bellamy pays an actor to stage a kidnapping of Luisa. The 1960 play was controversial for "It Depends On What You Pay," in which the actor sings of possible kidnapping scenarios, referring to them as rape. The show's writers insist that they meant figurative rape -- making the song the showtune equivalent of the Stone Temple Pilots' "Sex Type Thing" -- but they eventually wrote a replacement song called "Abduction." Texas Rep director Craig A. Miller decided to use "It Depends On What You Pay" but says he has substituted "some of the text to clarify that we mean literary rape." No matter which word is used, this scheme has got to be the worst example of parenting since Lot offered his virgin daughters to the raging hordes of Sodom.
Date/Time: Fridays-Sundays. Continues through Sept. 30
Price: $35-$45