All the newfangled technology at PLU's Eastvold Studio Theater serves as an invisible backdrop for the remarkably simple and sparse staging that makes up The Fantasticks. The production took me some time to get into, in part because of my vague but persistent expectation of what the show (which I had never seen or listened to previously) would be. But this show grows on you, and by the end I was won over.

Vocal performances are often a highlight at PLU, known for the quality of its choral program. But the real standout of the show is the silent Mute, serving up pre-show antics and various utility roles. Angie Tennant, also the choreographer, picks up on an array of small mannerisms giving her Mute a genuine-feeling vaudevillian demeanor.

Fellow highlights include Frank Roberts as the theatrical death expert Mortimer, and Ali Rose Schultz as a girl absolutely convinced of her destiny as a romantic fairytale lead.

Ultimately, The Fantasticks is a different kind of love story. A fairy tale turned on its ear, self-aware and unconventional. It runs for one more weekend, and if you miss it I guess you'll just have to go see something else there instead, if only to experience the joy of what a $10 million gift can do for a theater program.

To read Joe Izenman's full review click here.

[PLU Eastvold Studio Theater, The Fantasticks, through Oct. 23, Friday-Saturday 7:30 p.m., Sunday 2 p.m., $5 student, $8 general admission, Park Ave S and 123rd St S. ?Tacoma, 253.535.7411]