A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Last night I went to the current production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum presented by Reprise! as part of their 2010 Season.

"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus (251–183 BC), specifically Pseudolus, Miles Gloriosus and Mostellaria, it tells the bawdy story of a slave named Pseudolus and his attempts to win his freedom by helping his young master woo the girl next door. The plot displays many classic elements of farce, including puns, the slamming of doors, cases of mistaken identity (frequently involving characters disguising themselves as one another), and satirical comments on social class. The title derives from the line that vaudeville comedians often used to begin a story: "A funny thing happened on the way to the theater".

The musical's original 1962 Broadway run won several Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Book. A Funny Thing has enjoyed several Broadway and West End revivals and was made into a successful film. It is a popular choice for school and community theatre." (love that last "FYI" tidbit)

In my opinion, some of the cast is VERY talented. Stuart Ambrose as Miles Gloriosus and Ruth Williamson as Domina were my favorites. I just felt like the show wasn't quite "set-up" right. Like they weren't in on the joke even though they break the fourth wall multiple times. I'd love to blame Pseudolus (the narrator) but I don't think it's entirely his fault.

The first act is WAY TOO LONG or perhaps their pacing is just off. The second act flew by, but I don't think that's because it's half the length. (please, that's typical Sondheim!) It felt like, in the second act, they had settled in and got excited they were getting the laughs and they finally believed in their production. Which is TOTALLY understandable because a show like this NEEDS it's audience to respond. If it doesn't, it just feels like everything they're doing in just a hack-job, knock-off farce...and NOT in a good Noises Off kinda way....

Now, I've never seen the show before. I saw Jerome Robbins' Broadway, with Jason Alexander which features the number 'Comedy Tonight' (and LOVED it), but I have never seen a complete production OR the film version. I wanted to like it. I wanted to LOVE it. I wanted to find a new song to be obsessed with. (Which I did. It's called "Farewell" and apparently they cut it out of all productions and put it back in for this one. BASTARDS!) It's just...well...here's what I'm gonna say: After watching clips for the film AND the 1996 Broadway Revival with Nathan Lane (as I wrote this review), I think I can put it all on the director. It wasn't Reprise's fault because their last production of Carousel was AMAZING! Perfect, even. (and I had never seen THAT show before either.) Yeah, poor direction and not enough screaming for final rehearsal week is where I put the problem. This show had to be faster and funnier and the boring people should have been fired. There's no room for boring in a farce unless it's dialogue referring to the news coverage of Tiger Woods. Yep. It had to be faster and funnier.

It wasn't.

Ironically, many funny things DID happen on the way to see Forum, but not that many funny things happened once the show began.