STAGE REVIEW : ‘Fantasticks’: A Shticky Situation : When Newport Theatre Arts Center production isn’t going too far with all the silliness of the popular musical, there are moments that stand out.

Director Beth Hansen has tossed a fair amount of screwball shtick into the Newport Theatre Arts Center’s revival of “The Fantasticks.” Some of it works, some of it doesn’t, but at least it tends to dilute much of the gooey whimsy in this popular musical.

The show, with lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt, has been playing in New York City’s Greenwich Village since 1960. Before there was “Cats” and “A Chorus Line,” this was the one the out-of-towners put on their must-see lists.

It really is a tour guide’s dream--a sticky romantic story (just a boy, his girl and a couple of scheming parents who want them to get married), simple little tunes and absolutely nothing to offend even a flinty-eyed Bible Belter.

Hansen seems to realize that there’s plenty of corn in “The Fantasticks,” and she takes a winking attitude toward it. When she and her cast aren’t going too far with all the silliness, there are moments that stand out.

Steve Petska’s “actor,” brought in by the parents (Kurt Boesen and Joseph Charles) as part of their marriage machinations, is pretty funny, especially when he muffs his Shakespeare and reveals a performer’s vanity by constantly talking about his career. As his sidekick, a dolt known for his ability to “die” on cue, Craig Copeland expires with a surplus of game shudders and twitches.

As the boy and girl, Christine Hewitt and Eric Anderson don’t offer much range; they tend to shift from adolescent dreaminess to adolescent annoyance. But both are likable in roles that really don’t offer up much opportunity to flex.

Stuck in the role of the omniscient narrator, George Quick is archly glib as he comments on everything, but he’s more interesting (and funnier) when he gets to drop the attitude and take on his other role in the play, swashbuckling and vain El Gallo.

‘The Fantasticks’

A Newport Theatre Arts Center production of the musical by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, directed by Beth Hansen. With Caprice Spencer Rothe, Christine Hewitt, Eric Anderson, Kurt Boesen, Joseph Charles, George Quick, Craig Copeland, Steve Petska, Terence Alaric, Mary Dropkin and Laraine Claire. Choreography by Timothy J. Klega. Set and lighting by Robert L. Smith. Musical direction by Terence Alaric. Continues Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. through March 1 at 2501 Cliff Drive, Newport Beach. Tickets: $15. (714) 631-0288.