All-Female Production of A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM Comes to Blackfriars Theatre

Join Blackfriars Theatre (795 East Main Street) for an all-female laugh-fest with this fresh and subversive take on Steven Sondheim's classic, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, running June 15th-25th. Famously adapted for the 1966 film featuring Zero Mostel, Jack Gilford and Buster Keaton, Forum tells the story of Pseudolus, a crafty slave who struggles to win the hand of a beautiful but slow-witted courtesan in exchange for his freedom. As Pseudolus navigates the challenges of ancient Rome, the plot twists and turns with cases of mistaken identity, slamming doors, and a showgirl or two.

 

Broadway's greatest farce is light, fast-paced, witty, irreverent, and one of the funniest musicals ever written. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum takes comedy back to its roots, combining situations from the 2000-year-old comedies of Roman playwright, Plautus, with the infectious energy of classic vaudeville.

 

Leading the charge as director is Broadway veteran, Tom Deckman, who directed Blackfriars' hit production of Spamalot last September. “After performing in two different productions of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in the NYC area, I am excited to share this new take on the classic work,” says Deckman. “The goal for our production is not to break any new ground in terms of the storytelling or the themes, but to simply see what happens when this male-driven musical comedy is told exclusively by women. I can happily report that the results are FUNNY! Everyone at Blackfriars has worked incredibly hard to put this show together in a very short amount of time. I am beyond grateful that everyone involved has embraced this project so openly.”

 

Blackfriars' Artistic Director, Brynn Tyszka, is equally thrilled to be extending this opportunity to their female-identifying artists: “It's often a challenge to honor the legacy of musical theatre classics while making them palatable for a modern audience with modern social values. Forum, for example, presents the challenge of blatant misogyny and the hypersexualization of women. From cast to designers, however, the work that this team is doing with this script is genius—it makes the challenging underlying themes of the piece laughable in an unexpected way. The results are hilarious, and I wouldn't be surprised if you see this production done similarly in the future.”

 

The Forum cast includes Cynthia Brito (Gymnasia), Michaela Buckley (Tintinabula), Sammi Cohen (Domina), Rory Cushman (Pseudolus), Jessica Kaufman Ottnod (Philia), Lyndsey Lord (Hero), Lauren MacDonough (Senex), Katelyn Machnica (Miles Gloriosus), Kit Prelewitz (Hysterium), Tiffany Thompson (Erroneous), Marianna Tonas (Panacea), and Meredith Utman (Marcus Lycus). The show is directed by Tom Deckman, choreographed by Hector Manuel,  and musically directed by Amanda Meldrum-Stevenson.

 

 

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