When the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis put "The Fantasticks" on its 2009-2010 schedule, a lot of people familiar with the winsome musical had the same question: What  will the Rep do about that song?

The song in question is titled "It Depends on What You Pay." But people usually call it "The Rape Song."

The answer, at first, was, it would be sung. And it was, at the beginning of the run. But over the weekend, it was excised from the production at the request of  Tom Jones. (No, not the singer. And not the Fielding character, either. This Tom Jones wrote the book and lyrics for "The Fantasticks," collaborating with composer Harvey Schmidt.)

Here's how the song fits into the story: Two men, longtime friends and next-door neighbors, want to encourage a romance between their children. But they don't want to be obvious about it because then the boy, Matt, and the girl, Luisa, will feel manipulated and reject each other. So, among other things, the fathers come up with a plan to have Luisa abducted, allowing Matt to play the hero and rescue her. Of course it's not a real abduction; they hire the glamorous El Gallo (sort of the narrator) to stage it for them. El Gallo tells them he can make the abduction simple or elaborate: "It depends on what you pay." He tells them this in song. But traditionally, he doesn't call it abduction. He calls it rape.

You can make a case  that this is a historically valid use of the word (think of the rape of the Sabine women). But there's no question that "rape" today is understood to mean something specific, something ugly, something decidedly out of place in a lyrical romance. Maybe in 1960, when "The Fantasticks" opened off-Broadway, this didn't seem like much of an issue. But as the show grew in reputation and popularity (it's the longest-running musical in the world), the problem had to be addressed.

First Jones wrote a substitute lyric that really didn't work very well. Since then, he's written another, and better, set of lyrics. That's what they sing in the show's current revival on Broadway.

But the Rep was working from an old director's handbook because that was what Susan Gregg - the Rep's longtime associate artistic director, and in-house dramaturg - was able to locate months ago, when she was putting together materials for this production.  According to that handbook, a theater could either use the original lyrics or cut the song entirely.

Then, in July, Susan Gregg died. There was no dramaturg on hand when the Rep began working on "The Fantasticks," which is directed by Victoria Bussert. At that point, the song was in.

But Jones no longer wants the original song included. He got in touch  with the Rep; Jones, Bussert and Rep artistic director Steven Woolf talked things over. Jones asked that the Rep use the new lyrics or drop the song entirely.

Bussert returned to the Rep last weekend to see if the switch could be made. It was possible, but the choreography no longer worked. She and Woolf decided to take the song out, instead.

"The ballet is still there and the scene plays out the same way," Woolf said. "All that's gone is that song."

The last show in the Rep's current Mainstage season, "The Fantasticks" runs through April 11.