February 15-17, 2019The Majestic Theatre, Dallas
Performances were February 15 & 16 @ 7:30 PM and February 16 & 17 @ 2:30 PM.
Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, the creators of THE FANTASTICKS, the world’s longest running musical, adapted Jan de Hartog’s THE FOURPOSTER into a musical celebration of marriage. Specifically, the marriage of Michael and Agnes, a writer and his bride, over the course of their first fifty years of marriage. Written as a star vehicle for theater legends Mary Martin and Robert Preston, the original Broadway production received seven 1966 Tony Award nominations including Best Musical and Best Score.
The show begins with Michael and Agnes on their wedding day. Their vows behind them, they look forward to spending the rest of their lives together. We watch as they go through their wedding night jitters, raise a family and negotiate midlife crises. They rediscover how much they really need each other. Then, after 50 years of marriage, the couple leaves their house to the next pair of newlyweds. This touching story of two soul mates navigating the perils of life is set to a tuneful, charming score which includes the hit “My Cup Runneth Over.”
Starring in I DO! I DO! were Sarah Gay and Christopher J. Deaton. Penny Ayn Maas was the director and choreographer with music direction by Bruce Greer. Scenic design was by Randel Wright with lighting design by Julie N. Simmons.
TOM JONES AND HARVEY SCHMIDT
Composer Harvey Schmidt and lyricist Tom Jones are the legendary writing team best known for shaping the American musical landscape with their 1960 hit, THE FANTASTICKS. After its Off-Broadway opening in May 1960, it went on to become the longest-running production in the history of the American stage and one of the most frequently produced musicals in the world. Their first Broadway show, 110 IN THE SHADE, was revived on Broadway in a new production starring Audra MacDonald. I DO! I DO!, their two-character musical starring Mary Martin and Robert Preston, was nominated for seven Tony Awards. For several years Jones and Schmidt worked privately at their theatre workshop, Portfolio, concentrating on small-scale musicals in new and often untried forms. The most notable of these efforts were CELEBRATION, which moved to Broadway, and PHILEMON, which won an Outer Critics Circle Award. They contributed incidental music and lyrics to the Off-Broadway play COLETTE starring Zoe Caldwell, then later did a full-scale musical version under the title COLETTE COLLAGE. THE SHOW GOES ON, a musical revue featuring their theatre songs and starring Jones and Schmidt, was presented at the York Theatre. MIRETTE, their musical based on the award-winning children’s book, was premiered at the Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut. ROADSIDE, their last musical, premiered at Lyric Stage in 2001. In addition to an Obie Award and the 1992 Special Tony Award for THE FANTASTICKS, Jones and Schmidt were inducted into the Broadway Hall of Fame at the Gershwin Theatre, and on May 3, 1999 their ‘stars’ were added to the Off-Broadway Walk of Fame outside the Lucille Lortel Theatre. Then in 2012, Jones & Schmidt were honored by being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Lyric Stage’s Schmidt and Jones Awards, honoring excellence in high school musical theater, is named for the pair.
