Things are fantastic at the Musical Theatre Guild.

The guild's summer production, "The Fantasticks," by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt opens this coming week at the guild's production center in Memorial Park.

"The Fantasticks" is the first show that was done in the guild building in July 1988. Its reprisal is being produced by Dan Cox, who has been a fan of the show for a long time.

"This is a show that I have always loved, but have never been involved with a production of it. When the MTG board decided to do the show, there was no question in my mind but that I wanted to produce it," said Cox.

This musical tells a tale of a boy, a girl and their fathers, who plot to get them together by keeping them apart. Two fathers decide to get their children to fall in love, they must manufacture a conflict making forbidden love the attraction.

The girl, Luisa (Anna McGee), is a daydreamer with an active imagination. The boy, Matt (Chris Horsman), is a romantic. The two fathers decide to instigate a mock feud among themselves, giving them the excuse to say no to the relationship, which of course will simply encourage the children's love even more.

Horsman of Butler enjoys playing Matt.

"I like the fact that he is a dynamic character," he said. "He goes out and experiences the ups and downs of life, and through this realizes what really matters.

"It is neat that I am playing a character so close to myself, but it is also fun to play characters completely different from who you are everyday."

This show comes at a busy time for the guild.

"The only challenge has been that of being one of three shows in production simultaneously: 'Always ... Patsy Cline,' which just closed on July 17, 'Peter Pan,' the Summer Dramatics Project show, opening July 23, which has been utilizing the MTG building for set construction; and 'The Fantasticks' which has been in rehearsal since mid-June," said Cox.He said while the logistics of the three shows have been tricky, the cast has been great."The most enjoyable thing about producing this show is the professionalism and dedication of the cast and production staff. There has been nothing but cooperation and camaraderie throughout the process," he said.Ironically in a day and age where deep, dark macabre shows seem to be all the rage, "The Fantasticks" is the longest running show of any kind in the United States, and the longest running musical in the world."The Fantasticks" has played in every state, in more than 11,103 U.S. productions in more than 2,000 cities and towns. The show produced two popular songs, "Try To Remember" and "Soon It's Gonna Rain."Horsman said not only do patrons have to use their imagination because of the simple set design, but the actors do, too."This is the first show I have been in that has a very symbolic set," he said. "The show requires you to use your imagination a lot, which is a good thing, but sometimes hard while learning the show."Horseman enjoys the dialogue but one song is really special for him"I love the duet that I sing with Justin called 'I Can See It.' I really like the energy of the song as well as the lyrics. It is about my character's journey out into the world."'The Fantasticks' is really a show that everyone can relate to. I know you hear that about a lot of shows, but this one really transcends the generations. Audience members can expect to be reminded of experiences and memories from their own lives," said Horsman.Cox said, "The audience can expect to experience an evening of humor, sweetness, lovely tunes and just a touch of wickedness."