Greg’s Review: Eric McCormack dazzles in Reprise Theatre Company’s “The Fantasticks”

It was a great evening of theater Wednesday night at the Freud Playhouse at UCLA – opening night for the Reprise Theatre Company’s production of The Fantasticks.

We have Eric McCormack to thank for that and his confident and sexy performance at The Narrator (El Gallo).

Obviously he’s best known for his Emmy-winning role on Will & Grace but he’s also a stage veteran who starred in The Music Man on Broadway and his command of the stage is apparent from his first number Try to Remember. He also brings that fabulous comic timing to the production which also stars Lucas Grabeel of the High School Musical films, Alison Woods, Eileen T’Kaye, Tony nominee Harry Groener, Barry Dennen, Hap Lawrence, and Kimberly Mikesell.

Grabeel  and Woods are wonderful as the musical’s young lovers Matt and Luisa – both have such power and range in sucb songs as Soon It’s Gonna Rain and They Were You. (Grabeel, by the way, also had a small role in Milk). Mikesell is a wonder as The Mute. Her dancing is so expressive and lovely and her timing amazing. I very much enjoyed her moments with McCormack.

The show, written by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, moves along quickly and is over before you know it. Special kudos go to Driscoll Otto for the lighting design which is key to this production which runs 16 performances only tbrough May 17!

***** Before the show, director Jason Alexander – the former Seinfeld star who is also artistic director of Reprise – greeted guests which included his The Producers co-star Martin Short, Desperate Housewives producer Marc Cherry, singer-actor Sam Harris, actor Fred Willard, and Do Not Disturb star Jesse Tyler Ferguson.

I invited my former Daily News colleague Beth Barrett to join me for this night at the theater and we had a great time catching up over dinner and enjoying the show. Beth remarked that – although we’ve seen each other at parties etc. – this was the first time we’d gone to an event together since the Television Academy Hall of Fame ceremony back in December when Bea Arthur was among the inductees.

Coincidentally, we then bumped into Dan Watt to was Miss Arthur’s publicist, assistant and friend. We talked a bit about her illness and her death and the unbelievable outpouring of affection that has followed. He agreed that people didn’t know how much this star had meant to them until she passed. He also confirmed that the interview he arranged for me to have with Miss Arthur the day after the Hall of Fame event was the last she ever gave.

I’m very honored.