The musical starts with a press conference, where Keane explains his proof to reporters and promises to return to normal life with his wife Anna and his family.

The other mathematicians from the Aftermath, after noticing that they can't keep up with the mathematics of the past century, decide to grant admission to Keane even if he is unable to prove the theorem.

[10] The original production by the York Theatre ran from November 21 to December 31, 2000[2] at the Theater at St. Peter's Lutheran Church, directed by Mel Marvin, with sets designed by James Morgan.

[14][15][16][17] Students at Madison East High School performed an abridged version in 2005 and 2006, including at a statewide meeting of the Mathematical Association of America.

[4] Wilburn Hampton's review in The New York Times, while noticing the catchy tunes and lyrics, found fault with Daniel Keane not "becom[ing] a real character".

[20] Writing in the "Periodica" section of TotalTheater, reviewer Simon Saltzman praised Rabb and called the titular tango the highlight of the show.

"[1] In their book Math Goes to the Movies, mathematicians Burkard Polster and Marty Ross were enthusiastic about Fermat's Last Tango, calling it "terrific fun" and a "must-see".

In her book Science on Stage From Doctor Faustus to Copenhagen, literary scholar Kirsten Shepherd-Barr noted the musical's "successful integration of a surprising amount of 'real' mathematics with a charming and witty score.

"[21] In his book Dr. Riemann's Zeros: The Search for the $1 Million Solution to the Greatest Problem in Mathematics, journalist Karl Sabbagh wrote about seeing a performance of Fermat's Last Tango after meeting Andrew Wiles at Princeton.

[23][9] On the initiative of Clay Mathematics Institute president Arthur Jaffe, a high quality live performance video was made, directed by David Stern.

It was first shown to an audience of four hundred people in July 2001 in Berkeley, and later sold at cost by the Clay Mathematics Institute in both VHS and DVD editions.