Arena Stage’s The Fantasticks.

The Fantasticks is a show already heavy on charm, but it never hurts to throw a little magic into the proceedings.

That’s what Arena Stage has done with its current production of The Fantasticks, a 1960 show that was the world’s longest-running musical in its original off-Broadway run. You can feel the influence of The Fantasticks elsewhere in the musical theater canon, whether in Pippin’s title character’s search for his corner of the sky, or Into the Woods, which shares the structure of a happy first act, and a happy-ending-over second act. And the show itself is loosely based on the myth of Pyramus and Thisbe (well, at least the whole lovers-communicating-through-a-wall thing). But The Fantasticks above all is a simple fairy tale with some lovely songs like the melancholy “Soon It’s Gonna Rain” — a safe choice for the holiday season, perhaps, but an appealing one regardless.

The magic really helps set this Arena revival apart. The Fantasticks has at its disposal a multi-talented mime (Nate Dendy) who wordlessly acts and tricks his way through a number of minor roles, most amusingly as the separating wall itself. The show is accented with disappearances here, glimmers of fire there, and carnival tricks aplenty. It’s not the kind of heavy-duty, eerie trickery that Teller employed during Folger’s magical Macbeth, but it’s fun, showy stuff. The Lincoln Theater’s stagy set, with its glimmering marquee lighting, provides a natural backdrop.