Max Crumm Joins The Fantasticks off-Broadway

Producers of the off-Broadway revival of long running musical The Fantasticks have announced that Max Crumm will join the cast as the lead role of Matt/The Boy from 8 July 2014 at The Jerry Orbach Theater in the Snapple Theater Center.

Crumm shot to fame after winning the reality television show "Grease! You're the One That I Want!" which led to him creating the role of Dany Zuko in the 2007 Broadway Revival of 'Grease' opposite Laura Osnes. He went on to star as Scott in the off-Broadway musical 'DISASTER!' as well as Christian in 'F#%king Up Everything'. His film credits also include 'Easy A'.

The Fantasticks is a modern twist on Romeo and Juliet featuring music by Harvey Schmidt, book, lyrics, and direction by Tom Jones. It follows a boy and girl who are tricked by their parents to fall in love and then quickly grow apart when they realize they want to experience the world. The score features standards such as 'Try to Remember' 'They Were You' and 'Soon It's Gonna Rain'.

The cast currently features Jeremiah James as the Narrator (El Gallo), Max Crumm as The Boy (Matt), Samantha Bruce as The Girl (Luisa), Dan Sharkey as The Boy's Father (Hucklebee), Kevin Free as The Girl's Father (Bellomy), MacIntyre Dixon as The Old Actor (Henry), Michael Nostrand as The Man Who Dies (Mortimer) and Pierce Cravens as The Mute. The production also features Scott Willis, Rita Markova, and Tom Flagg.

This revival production of The Fantasticks originally opened on 16 June 2006, and is currently booking to 2 November 2014. The cast has previously featured the show's director and book writer Tom Jones as well as a range of celebrities including the pop star Aaron Carter.

The show's original off-Broadway production opened at the Sullivan Street Playhouse on 3 May 1960, and ran a total of 42 years and 17,162 performances, making it the world's longest-running musical.

- by Dom O'Hanlon