HILARIOUS MUSICAL
Landmark Musicals stages “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.”
The leering clown of farce has returned to Albuquerque.
“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” will open Friday in Rodey Theatre at the University of New Mexico. “Forum” is the bawdy tale of a slave named Pseudolus (Greek for “Faker”) as he struggles to win his freedom by helping his master win the girl next door.
Complete with slamming doors, mistaken identities, wordplay and satire, the musical’s original 1962 Broadway run claimed several Tony Awards, including Best Author and Best Musical. In 1966 it produced a film headlined by its original star Zero Mostel.
Stephen Sondheim wrote the music and lyrics. Larry Gelbart (who would later create the TV version of “M*A*S*H”) penned the book with Burt Shevelove. Every actor who has opened the role of Pseudolus on Broadway (Mostel, Phil Silvers and Nathan Lane; later replaced by Whoopi Goldberg) has won a Tony Award.
For Albuquerque director Hal Simons, “Forum” is his “do-over show” after an unfortunate production at Hofstra University in the 1990s.
“I pride myself on being a laugh whore,” Simons said. “I try to get every laugh in the script.
“I directed it with a leading actor who was so petrified by the role he couldn’t even open the script,” Simons continued. “He asked to be replaced the week of the opening; he said his back went out. When he found out who the replacement was, we had a spontaneous healing.”
Based on the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus (251-183 B.C.), “Forum” is steeped in history. But the hijinks of ancient Rome defy synopsis.
“It has all the archetypical roles: the young hero, the henpecked husband,” Simons said. “The cast has such a good time performing it that the audience can’t help but enjoy themselves. It has all the different genres of humor.
“I keep saying it really is like a Swiss clock,” he continued. “It’s not that the actors need to be automatic; but there is an exact timing for each joke.”
The performances must be grounded in the goal of each individual character.
The slave wants to rise to hero; the juvenile wants the girl, the mother-in-law wants to have sex one last time.
Pseudolus is clever and scheming but lazy. He’s driven to win his freedom and smitten with one of the courtesans. Senex (Latin for “old man”) is a henpecked and sardonic Roman senator living in a less-than-fashionable Roman suburb. Domina (Latin for “mistress”) is a manipulative shrew, loathed by everyone, including her husband Senex. Hero is their young son who falls in love with the virgin Philia (Greek for “love”).
Albuquerque’s Vernon Reza, last seen in “Fiddler On the Roof” and “Man of La Mancha,” will play Pseudolus.
“He was a professional actor for years on the West Coast,” Simons said. “He brings a genuinely delightful presence and a big, wonderful voice.”