It's opening night of The Fantasticks. Intermission has just ended. Audience members are back in their seats, poised for Act 2. So why are Spinning Tree directors Michael Grayman and Andy Parkhurst taking to the stage in an appearance that doesn't look scripted? With a mix of disappointment and gravity, they announce that tonight's show will not go on. What? The narrator, the swashbuckling bandit El Gallo — known in real life as Vigthor Zophoniasson — hurt his leg during a fight scene in Act 1. He was heading, as they spoke, to the emergency room. His suspected injury was later confirmed: a torn Achilles tendon. But the show did go on, just a few days later, after Zophoniasson (a native of Iceland) underwent surgery. On crutches or sitting in a wheelchair, he was a less agile if no-less-dashing El Gallo, and the restaging included some humorous asides on the earlier mishap while incorporating Grayman as an as-needed shadow. The show must go on — no mere catchphrase at Spinning Tree.
