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| Craig Nolan Highley & Corey Newt Hall in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Photo courtesy of Shelby County Community Theatre. |
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to
the Forum
Review by Rachel White
Shelby County Community Theatre gave a
solid production of A Funny Thing
Happened on the Way to the Forum on Saturday night. With a great energetic
ensemble, some genuinely funny actors, and a couple of strong singing voices,
the show took off at a great pace. These qualities are essential to Stephen
Sondheim’s farcical, vaudevillian style musical set in ancient Rome. I had
never actually seen this play performed, so in that sense it was a treat for
me.
As the director notes in the program,
this musical, beyond some satirical social criticism, is basically a cartoon,
and very little happens that isn’t in the name of pure silliness. The show’s premise
is that Pseudolus, a Roman slave, is scheming for his freedom. He makes a deal with his master, Hero,
that in exchange for his freedom, Pseudolus will hook Hero up with the beautiful
courtesan Philia. The cast
embraces the ridiculousness of the piece and takes character exaggerations to
the extreme. There is one scene where the ditzy Philia tries to pull open a
door that says push. She then
leans on it in frustration and of course falls right through. There is a commitment to that kind of
physical comedy throughout the production that keeps the play fresh and the
action moving forward.
Andrew K. McGill as Pseudolus is a
bright actor and captured some of the craftiness of the character. He
developed a strong rapport with the audience, and I could sense that he was holding
the story together. Craig Nolan Highley
as Hysterium, with his dead-pan delivery, had many strong moments and was one
of the most grounded actors of the play. The scene where he pretends to be the
dead Philia was one of the best scenes of the night. The ensemble parts were
great fun as well and were extremely effective at moving the action along.
Other notables include Wayne C. Muscar as
Senex, Hero’s father, who falls for the young Philia. His high tinny voice and rubbery facial expressions as he
dreamily sings “Everybody Ought to Have a Maid” makes
him seem like an especially unsavory option for her.
The set is minimal and brightly
colored, and the costumes are evocative of a farcical ancient Rome. The dresses
of the courtesans are duly scandalous, with one character dressed like a modern
day dominatrix. All of this worked
to support the overall humor and sensibility of the play.
The show began to drag a bit toward the
end of the first act. The trap of this
play is that it is so over the top that many of the characters can begin to
feel one note. What may have
helped is to even further differentiate a crafty character like Pseudolus from
the other characters who are less conniving. If his intelligence and craftiness were specified even further,
the ridiculousness of the other characters would have been enhanced in
contrast.
This show is filled with unabashed
wicked humor, dirty jokes, slapstick, sleeping potions and all the best tricks
of the stage. It has a cast
willing to commit to it all, which makes it a night of zany fun.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Book by Burt Shevelove and Larry
Gelbart
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Directed by Mike Seely
Musical Director Lynne Chenault
July 20-22, 27-29, 2012
Shelby County Community Theatre
801 Main Street
Shelbyville, Kentucky 40065
(502) 633-0222
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