Due to a "casting crisis" six weeks into the run of the show at the Sullivan Street Playhouse, Mr. Noto himself went on in the role of Hucklebee (the boy's father) and would later play the role for 17 years beginning in 1970. He played the role 6,348 performances. His son, Tony Noto, was seven when the show opened, and would become one of the production's associate producers.