A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum @ Richardson Theatre Centre
—Jan Farrington
A funny thing—the last show Onstage NTX reviewed was an “in concert” version of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (our Martha Heimberg went to Lyric Stage @ the Majestic). And now, here we are again, this time at Richardson Theatre Centre, to see what the “suburbs” (a fine old Roman word to go with a fine old Roman musical) do with the same musical.
Well…they get lots of laughs, of course.
No, it’s not Nathan Lane and Broadway. (So few things are.) But it’s a show that’s easy to enjoy and hard to ruin. Given a cast like RTC’s, with good comic timing and oodles of energy, the fun keeps on coming. And really—with a book by Burt Shevelove and M*A*S*H’s Larry Gelbart, and young Stephen Sondheim’s delightfully funny music and lyrics (his first time writing both, back in 1962), how can you miss?
Forum is old-school silly. It pulls from comic traditions that go back forever, from the ancient Romans to American vaudeville. It isn’t PC, and the sexual politics would make Gloria Steinem bang her head on the wall: soldiers looking for girls, “girls” looking for business, shrewish wives and dotty husbands, horny sons and clueless virgins. Mayhem. But we’re optimistic: the opening song says we’re seeing a “Comedy Tonight.” Tragedy? That’s tomorrow.
Robert Banks gives a lively, ad-libbing performance as Pseudolus, a slave and flim-flam man always on the lookout for a way to get money, earn his freedom, and find a lady…in no particular order. “Give me ME!” he pleads with his young master, Hero. (Grant Palmore gives puppyish Hero a sweet, engaging smile.) Parents Senex and Domina (Brian Hoffman and Nancy Wilson commit to their stereotyped roles, and it’s a hoot) want to marry their boy to someone rich, but he’s fallen for Philia (pretty soprano Hannah Burns), the girl next door. Unfortunately, next door is a brothel run by cigar-chomping Lycus (Rusty Harding), and virgin Philia is waiting to meet her buyer, the bombastic Roman captain Miles Gloriosus (Kerry Graves, who stomps impressively and “Henry Higgins-es” his singing part—not that there’s anything wrong with that.) In another subplot, an ancient neighbor is tricked into walking around—and around—the seven hills of Rome. (Gordon Fox plays “ancient” so well we want to offer him a seat.)
Pick a plot, right? Mostly, we watch to see what Pseudolus will do, how far he will go, to gain his freedom. His fellow slave in the house of Senex is Hysterium (jittery Eddy Herring), who as his name suggests, isn’t much help—though he does save the day by pretending to be a dead girl. By the way, Herring also created the set: three houses, three doors—a design that goes back to the Caesars.
Director Rachael Lindley herds the chaos, and makes this intimate space feel big and busy. Nan Gammon’s choreography moves well on the small stage; Alvaro Carranza catches the eye as a tiger-costumed dancer with some fancy turns. The company’s best numbers include “Comedy Tonight,” “Free,” the ballad “Lovely,” the music hall-ish “Everybody Ought to Have a Maid,” and the father-son duet “Impossible.” The ensemble of Courtesans and Proteans jumps in to play dozens of other roles, and creates a nice round sound when the singing needs a boost.
RTC’s Forum runs through June 5. You’ll laugh; then you’ll laugh harder—and come out smiling.
Such a deal.
WHEN: Through June 5
WHERE: Richardson Theatre Centre, 518 W. Arapaho Road
