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| The Maltz Ensemble -- A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum |
Why see this production for the umpteenth time? Sondheim.
It’s now been a little more than a year since the passing of Stephen Sondheim, the leading composer/lyricist of 20th century musical theater. His genius at wordplay is on full display with A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. After gaining fame as a lyricist for West Side Story and Gypsy, he finally had the opportunity realize his dream of being a composer as well with Forum. It is the first Broadway production where he is credited as a composer/lyricist, some sixty years ago. It was mainstream Broadway at the time but alas it is now a little dated. The risqué sexual undercurrent was cutting edge then, but tame by today’s standards.
Writing a farce was a challenge for Sondheim. The characters in Forum exist to keep us laughing, and Sondheim took up the challenge, bending rules of the “book musical” he had been taught by his mentor, Oscar Hammerstein. It helped that the book is by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart (of M*A*S*H fame) who were influenced by the plays of Plautus, a Roman playwright who is considered the father of contemporary farce,
In a talk which was transcribed for the August 1978 Dramatists Guild Quarterly, Sondheim said: “… we worked on Forum for three years because Farce is, I think, the most difficult form of playwriting….. I think that Forum is the best Farce ever written…elegant and…tightly plotted. There’s not a wasted moment in Forum and the truth and the test of it is that the play is just as funny when performed by a group of high school students as it is when performed on Broadway it is based on situation, so solid, that you cannot not laugh.”
Which is the other reason for seeing this production in the newly renovated Maltz Jupiter Theater: it fits their vision of becoming “Broadway South,” using their expanded and updated facilities to mount a full-blown production with original scenery, costumes, lighting and orchestration, and auditioning for very talented actors.
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| Paul Louis (Marcus Lycus), Scott Cote (Pseudolus), Andrew Sellon (Senex), Jeremy Morse (Hysterium) |
The plot is pretty straight forward, filled with sexual innuendo (albeit dated and schtick); it is about a conniving Roman slave (Pseudolus) who wants his freedom while his master (Hero) wants the virginal girl next door (Philia), and so the slave concocts a plan to achieve his master’s desire IF he will give him his freedom. Every complication known to vaudevillian theater is thrown in the way.
When collaborating with Shevelove and Gelbart, Sondheim had Phil Silvers in mind when creating Pseudolus. Silvers played the role in a revival, but the original Broadway role went to Zero Mostel. Nathan Lane is another luminary who played the role, so it’s a tough act to follow, yet this production’s Scott Cote measures up to the demands of the role. He also has a better singing voice than those well-known predecessors. The young master, Hero, is played by Steven Huynh with wide eyed innocence. He is in love with virginal Philia. Mackenzie Meadows delightfully displays Philia’s naïveté of just about everything but attracting a man.
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| Steven Huynh (Hero), Scott Cote (Pseudolus), Mackenzie Meadows (Philia) |
One of those men is the Roman Captain, Miles Gloriosus, to whom the brothel owner, Marcus Lycus (Paul Louis), sold Phila (one of the many farcical complications). Miles is indeed gloriously played by Sean William Davis. (Think of the bravado of Lancelot singing “C'est Moi" in Camelot.). Davis just oozes majesty and sex appeal on stage, his voice clarion. He appears at the end of the first act and dominates the production from then on.
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| Sean William Davis (Miles Gloriosus) |
There are many memorable and or amusing songs, particularly “Everybody Ought to Have a Maid,” “Pretty Little Picture, “and “I’m Calm” (the latter laughably delivered by Jeremy Morse as Hysterium). But the best known song, sung with gusto by the cast, and one that Sondheim added to the show more or less at the last minute, is “Comedy Tonight” -- heeding the advice of Hammerstein that an opening number can make or break a show.
Joining the ensemble of this production is Roberta Burke (Domina), Wayne LeGette (Erronius), and Andrew Sellon (Senex). The courtesans – “Tintinabula, Panacea, Geminae Twins, Vibrata, and Gymnasia” – are so amusingly and seductively played by Cat Pagano, Ashley McManus, Melanie Farber, Minami Yushi, Laura Sky Herman, Kellyanna Polk Wackym, respectively, while ”The Proteans” who are called upon by the characters to play different roles to move the comedic plot along are entertainingly and energetically played by Cameron Benda, Alex Jorth, and Deon Ridley.
Director Jennifer Werner and Choreographer Ariel J. Reid have such a large cast rotating around the stage that there is never a dull moment. The two hour running time with one intermission passes fast.
Musical Director Cary Fantel’s ensemble of eight musicians comes across like a larger orchestra and Scott Stauffer’s Sound Design is clear.
Maltz bolsters the professional nature of their production with the visual delights of Leslye Menshouse’s costume designs and Adam Koch’s colorful scenic designs of the homes of Lycus, Senex, and Erronius on a Roman street.
If you are a Sondheim fan or appreciate a night of diversion from the times we live in, you will want to see the Maltz’s production of Forum. Indeed. “Goodness and badness / Man in his madness / This time it turns out all right -- /Tragedy tomorrow / Comedy tonight!”
Photographs by Jason Nuttle Photography
