Ed Wittstein gets a check in the mail every month - sometimes for $100, sometimes for as much as $1,000.
Regardless of the amount, the checks arrive like clockwork, just as they have for the past 33 years. The reason? Wittstein just happened to be in the right place at the right time and got in on the ground floor of the biggest little musical of all time.The show was "The Fantasticks," the Tom Jones-Harvey Schmidt romantic musical that opened at the 150-seat Sullivan Street Playhouse in New York on May 3, 1960. Wittstein designed the sets, lights and costumes and invested in the show. Considering the production's track record, it's a safe bet that Wittstein will continue earning a return on his investment for the rest of his life.
Although Wittstein has won an Obie Award and was nominated once for a Tony Award and twice for Emmys in his years of designing for movies, TV and theater, the little show on Sullivan Street is the one by which he earned a place in the theater history books.
"It probably will be the most famous thing I've ever designed," Wittstein said. "How many people have designed the longest running musical play in history?"
Why the popularity?
"I think probably you have to say the music is just so beautiful," Wittstein said. "I mean, there are five or six wonderful songs. And the story and the lyrics are so touching.
"It's kind of poetry, but - I don't know, it's much easier to understand than Shakespeare. And it's sweet and charming. It's funny. I mean, I see it every now and then and I'm always charmed and amused by it."
Most artists have humble beginnings and Wittstein, 64, is no exception. The multitalented designer began his career building puppets in his parents' basement when he was 7. That was in Mount Vernon, N.Y.