Steampunk takes center stage

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'The Fantasticks," the world's longest-running musical, opened off Broadway in 1960 and didn't close until 2002, after more than 17,000 performances. Tens of millions can hum its signature tune, "Try to Remember."

So, when the Omaha Community Playhouse chose to stage it, starting Friday in the Howard Drew Theatre, its familiarity was a concern.

"We needed a fresh approach, a way of rethinking it," said director Carl Beck. "Then (costume shop supervisor) Paula Clowers walked in and asked, 'Are you familiar with steampunk?'"

Nobody was. Not Beck, not props designer Amy Reiner, not costumer Georgiann Regan or scenic designer Jim Othuse. But after exploring it, they decided it was the perfect way to freshen and modernize "The Fantasticks."

Steampunk began as a literary genre associated with the science fiction of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne. It got its name in the 1980s, when punk rock was all the rage. It combines Victorian style with a punk attitude, and it's steeped in the Victorian industrial-revolution machinery powered by steam.

"The Fantasticks" is the story of a girl who falls in love with the boy next door. Their fathers pretend to keep them apart, knowing that will bring them together.

But the path of true love is not smooth. The young, idealistic lovers must experience the dark side of life before they can appreciate each other as they should.

"The simplicity of the romance, the fantasy quality of the story lend themselves to that turn-of-the-century Victorian innocence," Beck said. "Steampunk, the industrial revolution and outside influences fit the sinister side of the story."

Some aspects of the show — scenery, lighting, even staging — needed little adjustment to layer on the steampunk theme. Costumes and props became the primary vehicles.

"It's in the details," Regan said. "Buttons become gears. Decorated top hats and goggles are very steampunk. That's all layered on top of Victorian lace and feathers."

Regan and her costume crew snipped detailing and fabric from vintage clothing, then layered and pieced it into yards of fabric in a process similar to quilting.

Reiner said the brainstorming and collaboration on the show's look and sensibility has been one of her most satisfying artistic experiences at the Playhouse. Steampunk, she said, flows into everything from the floor to furnishings like a trunk or a chair, even to a representation of the sun that hovers over the stage.

"We're casting a lot of things in latex, to keep the weight light, then painting them to look like metal," said costumer Lynne Ridge, who is teaming with Reiner on a surprise reimagining of an abduction scene in which the girl must be rescued.

Clowers' husband, Wes, has been taking apart alarm clocks and other machines and appliances to supply inner gears and workings used to decorate props, costumes and set pieces.

"We call him the deconstructionist," Clowers laughed.

Beck said the key to the production is that the story, beloved for decades, is unaltered by the steampunk concept. While the accent is on the Victorian early on, as the innocents become exposed to the dark side of life in the big bad world, the steampunk comes on strong.

"The characters are very much the same," Beck said. "But visually, wow."

Contact the writer:

402-444-1269, bob.fischbach@owh.com

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