Mix rowdy Romans, painted ladies, disgruntled slaves and tenacious narcissists, and you’ll get one madcap musical called “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum.” Now on stage at Ridgedale Players is a merry production of Forum, jam-packed with kaleidoscopic costumes, sumptuous scenery, high-spirited tunes and an effervescent cast.
The senescent Senator Senex (played sensationally by Tracy Altman) is the master of a villa, sandwiched between a den of iniquity and a lunatic’s asylum. Senex’ strident spouse, Domina (played gingerly by Jennifer Murray) is a hateful hussy hinged on always getting her own way. Erronious (played brilliantly by Bill Dixon) is the lunatic next door who spends his life, in vain, searching for his long-lost children who were kidnapped by pirates. Philia is the new girl at the brothel (played laurel-ly by Lauren Fuller) who is fancied by Senex’ son Hero (played commendably by Tim Higle); unfortunately, the un-vetted virgin is already vouched for by the vernal and venerable Miles Gloriosus (played gloriously by Tom Arwady).
In the meanwhile, a sullen slave, Pseudolus (played stellarly by Steve Morgan) concocts unending shenanigans to effect his freedom, all while being under the purported supervision of faithful bondservant Hysterium (played hysterically by Bill Hellebuyck).
The cast of merrymakers break into song spontaneously throughout the spectacle, while Pseudolus runs about with inexhaustive energy. I have no idea where Pseudolus gets the adrenaline to remain as loud and frenzied as he is for a two-hour performance, but it certainly looks like Pseudolus was cooking dinner with pseudoephedrine as the featured ingredient. (…that’s meant only as a joke, dear readers)
This show is absolutely marvelous! The brilliant colors, happy tunes, fast jokes and endless energy make Forum an absolute delight to see. I hope I am speaking for all of the audience when I say I really appreciate all the work put into this show for our entertainment. Bravo to all!
Pseudolus .................. Steve Morgan
Hero ................ Tim Higle
Senex ................... Tracy Altman
Marcus Lycus ............. John Tonkovich
Erronious ................. Bill Dixon
Miles ..................... Tom Arwady
Hysterium .............. Bill Hellebuyck
Proteans ................. Joe Niemiec
Michael Schaeper
Blake Hughes
Philia ................ Lauren Fuller
Domina ..................... Jennifer Murray
Gymnasia .................. Suzanne Clement
Geminae .................. Nicole Niemiec
Geminae ...................Kelly Niemiec
Tintinabula ..........................Jamie Glenn
Vibrata .............. Kayla Landsparger
Panacea ..................Meagan LeFebvre
Flaminia ............ Shirley Fager
Fannia ...............Susan Mance
Fundania ..............Catherine Matykowski
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum – a musical comedy, by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart; Music/lyrics by Stephen Sondeim; Directed by Pamela Shaw Heath.
Performances run Feb. 25 - March 13, 2011; Fridays and Saturdays - 8:00p.m.; Sundays 2:00p.m.. For further information, kindly visit http://www.ridgedaleplayers.com .
This writer attended opening night of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum on February 25, 2011.
Photos by Lori Ann Altman.
Anton Anderssen is a professionally paid writer for Examiner.com, a Top 100 website, having over 17 million unique monthly visitors. Examiner.com has teamed with Thomson Reuters to license, distribute and share news articles across the United States through their new flagship service, Reuters America. Syndication in Reuters America marks a huge milestone in the history of Examiner.com. Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider touching more than 1 billion people a day.
Comments
I had an opportunity to act with Steve Morgan in College. He is brilliant and always brings that type of energy to the roles he plays.
Ridgedale offers wonderful family entertainment year after year and then tops it off by serving complementary coffee and sandwiches to audience members in their seats! It's a gracious gesture dating from the early '30's to thank faithful patrons. Their current production, "...Forum", is a spendid alternative to the stale "date night" rut so many couples fall into. We'll be back.
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