Off-Broadway's 'Fantasticks' to close after 57 years

March 21 (UPI) -- The off-Broadway musical The Fantasticks is to close June 4 after 57 years, the show's producers announced Tuesday.

By its final curtain, the production will have played a total of 21,552 performances in New York City -- initially 17,162 at the Sullivan Street Playhouse, then 4,390 at the Jerry Orbach Theater.

  The new play The Crusade of Connor Stephens is slated to take over the space and begin previews on June 17.

"The play has become a true New York institution," a press release noted. "For many people, seeing The Fantasticks when visiting New York is as important as seeing The Statue of Liberty or The Empire State Building. In fact, Mayor Michael Bloomberg attended the New Year's Eve performance of the show before ringing in 2008 in Times Square. In 1992, The Fantasticks won The Tony Award for Excellence and remains the only off-Broadway show ever to have won a Tony."

  The love story features the hit songs "Try To Remember," "Soon It's Gonna Rain" and "They Were You." The current cast includes Bradley Dean as El Gallo, Emily Behny as Luisa, Nathan Goodrich as The Boy, Dan Sharkey as The Boy's Father, Dale Hensley as The Girl's Father, MacIntyre Dixon as The Old Actor, Michael Nostrand as The Man Who Dies and Aaron Wright as The Mute. The production also features Scott Willis, John Thomas Waite, and Samantha Bruce.