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Regional Reviews: Washington, D.C. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum Also see Susan's review of The Other Americans
Director and choreographer Matthew Gardiner continues Signature's decades-long devotion to the works of composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim with this effervescent production, which plays with gender in ways that the original (book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart) did not when it premiered in 1962. Most obviously, the House of Lycus (Lawrence Redmond) now offers courtesans representing a variety of genders, and (as with Whoopi Goldberg in the most recent Broadway revival) the star role of Pseudolus is played by a woman. Erin Weaver may look diminutive in size but she's a powerhouse performer with boundless stamina and dead-on comic timing, and she cheerfully keeps things bubbling as the plot complications pile up. Forum is the first musical for which Sondheim contributed music as well as lyrics, and it includes examples of his delicious wordplay ("I pine, I blush, I squeak, I squawk/Today I woke too weak to walk") and self-parody ("Lovely is the one thing I can do"). The songs may be more than six decades old, but they have not noticeably aged. Shevelove and Gelbart created the book from the works of the Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254 BCE 184 BCE), which have inspired farceurs since then. The characters are broadly drawn but still recognizably human: the naïve boy blindsided by love, Hero (Zachary Keller); his still-randy father Senex (Christopher Bloch) and stentorian mother Domina (Tracy Lynn Olivera); the fastidious slave supervising their household Hysterium (Mike Millan, whose descent from dignity is hilarious); the innocent young woman who may or may not know more than she lets on, Philia (wide-eyed Kuhoo Verma); and the bombastic soldier determined to marry her, Miles Gloriosus (Cameron Loyal). Signature stalwart Sherri L. Edelen appears (unrecognizably) in two outrageous roles. Gardiner's direction maintains the underlying idea that, in the service of comedy, too much can never be enough. Lovers waggle their tongues at each other and basically act like puppies, Hysterium reveals every emotion (or more than one at a time) on his face, and several characters try hard to maintain their decorum but just can't carry it off. The physical production adds to the overall sense of joy. Jimmy Stubbs' detailed scenic design offers three multi-level house facades and a few surprises, while Erik Teague's costume designs range from serviceable to fabulous (meant in the best way). Music director Jon Kalbfleisch oversees 14 polished and hard-working musicians from above the stage. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum runs through January 12, 2025, at Signature Theatre, MAX Theater, 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington VA. For tickets and information, please call 703-820-9771 or 1-800-955-5566 or visit www.signature-theatre.org. Book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart Cast: |
