A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum

What is funny? The squeaky voice? The double take? The silly walk? The pratfall? Whenever we enjoy a big belly laugh in the theater, we can thank the Roman playwright, Titus Maccius Plautus. Plautus is credited with inventing almost all the devices of theatrical comedy known today, teaching amphitheater audiences to laugh for the first time at character and situation instead of that old staple ancient audiences found so amusing, bloodshed.

While in college, writer Burt Shevelove had the idea of turning a version of Roman comedy into a full-blown Broadway musical. Later in his career, Shevelove teamed with fellow writer Larry Gelbart on the book and Stephen Sondheim on the music and lyrics. It took almost five years of working nearly every weekend to produce their fast and fun-filled Forum. Their inspiration came from two specific Plautus plays, Pseudolus and The Menachmae. There they found – appearing for the first time anywhere – the brash Prologus, working very much in the manner of a modern-day master of ceremonies, hitting the audience with one-liners and warming them up for the show. There were the sly servants, always getting the upper hand on the upper class – largely composed of senile, skirt-chasing, henpecked husbands married to loud, larger-than-life, domineering wives. The younger generation was represented by lovesick boys, dimwitted but pretty girls and beautiful, leggy courtesans with hair and hearts of gold.

Let it be said that A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is not the only benefactor of Plautus' huge contribution to the theater. From Shakespeare to sitcoms we will forever be indebted to this high priest of low comedy. Sit back and enjoy this wild and ridiculous ride – Comedy Tonight!

Victoria Bussert, Director
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Stephen Sondheim, one of the most influential and accomplished composer/lyricists in Broadway history, was born in New York City and raised in New York and Pennsylvania. As a teenager he met Oscar Hammerstein II, who became Sondheim's mentor. Sondheim graduated from Williams College, where he received the Hutchinson Prize for Music Composition. After graduation he studied music theory and composition with Milton Babbitt. He worked for a short time in the 1950s as a writer for the television show Topper; his first professional musical theatre job was as the songwriter for the unproduced musical Saturday Night. He wrote the lyrics for West Side Story (1957), Gypsy (1959) and Do I Hear A Waltz? (1965), as well as additional lyrics for Candide (1973). Musicals for which he has written both music and lyrics include A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum (1962), Anyone Can Whistle (1964), Company (1970 - 1971 Tony Award Music and Best Lyrics), Follies (1971-1972 Tony Award Score and New York Drama Critics Circle Award; revised in London, 1987), A Little Night Music (1973 - Tony Award Score), The Frogs (1974), Pacific Overtures (1976 - New York Drama Critics' Circle Award), Sweeney Todd (1979 - Tony Award Score), Merrily We Roll Along (1981), Sunday In The Park With George (1984 - New York Drama Critics Circle Award; 1985 Pulitzer Prize for Drama), Into The Woods (1987 - Tony Award Score), Assassins (1991) and Passion (1994 - Tony Award Score). Side By Side By Sondheim (1976), Marry Me A Little (1981), You're Gonna Love Tomorrow (1983; originally presented as A Stephen Sondheim Evening) and Putting It Together (1993) are anthologies of his work. He has written scores for the films Stavisky (1974) and Reds (1981), and composed songs for the film Dick Tracy (1990 - Academy Award for Best Song). He is on the Council of the Dramatist Guild, the national association of playwrights, composers and lyricists, having served as its president from 1973 until 1981, and in 1983 was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1990 he was appointed the first Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre at Oxford University. He was also the recipient of a Kennedy Center Honor in 1993.

Daniel Hahn
Great Lakes Theater Festival Director of Education