The Fantasticks' longest-running lyricist, Tom Jones, passes away at age 95!
The Fantasticks' longest-running lyricist, Tom Jones, passes away at age 95!
Updated on August 14, 2023 16:31 PM by Andrew Koschiev

Tom Jones, a songwriter, met his long-term partner Harvey Schmidt while studying theatre at the University of Texas in 1945. Jones and Schmidt served in the Korean War after receiving their master's degrees. He started in New York City. Working with composer John Donald Robb is his first chance.
Based on Edmond Rostand's 1894 drama Les Romanesques, Jones and Rob created the musical Joy Comes to Deadhorses. After some time, the two parted ways, with Jones continuing to work on the music.
Jones sought the assistance of his close buddy Schmidt, with whom he remained in contact during their time in the military, to complete the musical that would later be known as The Fantasticks.
Duo on big Broadway music!

The Fantasticks was originally intended to be a large Broadway musical, but the team "decided to break all the rules" and cut it down to a smaller production. A one-act version was initially performed in 1959 during a summer festival at Barnard College; when it premiered in May 1960 at the Sullivan Street Playhouse in Greenwich Village, it was enlarged to two acts.
Jones played Henry, the Old Actor, in the musical's original cast, while Jerry Orbach performed "Try to Remember" with Jones and Schmidt as El Gallo, the narrator. Although the musical garnered mixed reviews, it was the longest-running musical in theatrical history for 42 years before ending in 2002.
Jones returned to his role on the first night of The Fantasticks' 2006 revival, which ran for 4,300 more performances in midtown Manhattan. In 2010, fifty years earlier, he made another trip back to commemorate the inauguration of the first show.
In addition to 110 in the Shade, I Do! I Do! and Celebration, all of which debuted in the 1960s, Jones and Schmidt, who passed away in 2018, also worked together on several other series.
Eleanor Wright and Jones' first marriage ended in divorce. He later married Janet Watson, who passed away in 2016. Jones leaves behind his two boys, who he had along with Watson. According to his son Michael, he fought cancer and died at home in Sharon, Connecticut, at 95.
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