PA Shakes Launches A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM 6/23

Outrageous situations lead to hilarious complications in the legendary musical, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum opening on the Main Stage at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival Friday, June 25. With previews June 23 and 24, Forum continues through July 11. Ticket prices range from $25 to $53.

"Toga Tuesdays" offer audience members who wear a toga to the performance the chance to have their photo taken on stage with the cast and attend a toga party in the lobby after the performance. Toga Tuesdays are June 29 and July 6 at 7pm.

With a title that's a direct descendant from vaudeville routines, Forum won six Tony Awards when it debuted, including best musical. The book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart (later renowned for M*A*S*H) is inspired by the prolific Roman playwright, Plautus, and proves that a few millennia could not erode what the New York Times described as an "ancient and honorable style of fooling...(that keeps you) laughing as if the old sight and sound gags were as good as new."
Previews: June 23 and 24
Opens: June 25; Closes: July 11
Single ticket prices: $25 to $53; $10 student rush half hour prior to curtain. Discounts for groups, seniors, students, and subscribers
Performances: 7pm Tuesdays, 8pm Wednesdays through Saturdays, Sundays at 2pm, (also 7:30pm on Sunday, June 27.) 2pm Saturday July 3 and 10.
Tickets: 610.282.WILL [9455] or visit www.pashakespeare.org

The production sponsor is Alvin H. Butz, Inc.; co-sponsor is Orlando Diefenderfer Electrical Contractors, Inc.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum was an historic first for Stephen Sondheim. He had previously written lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy, but Forum was the first time he combined writing the score and the lyrics. Sondheim, who turned 80 this year, "is indisputably the best, brightest and most influential talent to emerge during the last half-century," according to the New York Times. He is the winner of an Academy Award, eight Tony Awards (more than any other composer) including the Special Tony for Lifetime Achievement in Theatre, The Pulitzer Prize, eight Grammy awards, and multiple drama desk awards.

Following last season's triumphant production of 1776, Dennis Razze, PSF associate artistic director, directs the cast of 18. Brad DePlanche returns to PSF in the central role of Pseudolus - the slave whose dreams of freedom set in motion a cascade of comic conventions. The character has won Tony Awards for every actor who has performed it on Broadway - Zero Mostel, Phil Silvers, Nathan Lane, and Jason Alexander.

PSF veteran Carl N. Wallnau portrays Senex, the philandering husband of Domina, who is played by PSF newcomer Beth McVey. Chris Faith returns to PSF as Hysterium, slave to Senex and Domina.

Wayne S. Turney portrays Erronius, an old man questing for his lost children and Rob Richardson steps into the warrior role, Miles Gloriosus. Mike Corr returns as Marcus Lycus, the buyer and seller of courtesans.

Stephen Casey and Nathan Diehl serve as choreographer and musical director/conductor, respectively. PSF veteran scenic designer Will Neuert has created the Roman palace homes and streetscapes, with lighting design by Kurt Landisman, a PSF newcomer from San Francisco with many Bay area credits. Costume Designer Sam Fleming, whose design credits extend to both coasts; Matthew Given, PSF's resident sound designer and production manager, and wig and make-up designer Michael Ferguson complete the design team. Iris Dawn O'Brien and H. Lloyd Carbaugh serve as Equity production stage manager and assistant stage manager, respectively.

The 2010 Festival also features The Merry Wives of Windsor (July 14-August 8 in the Schubert Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (July 21-August 8 on the Main Stage), the Irish classic The Playboy of the Western World (June 16-July 3 in the Schubert Theatre); and for children: Robin Hood (through August 7 in the Schubert Theatre) and Shakespeare for Kids (July 28-31 and August 3-7). Three shows will run for one night only: The Screwtape Letters (June 28) Underneath the Lintel (July 26) and Finale Cabaret (August 1).

A free outdoor Green Show is part of the season's offerings and occurs one hour prior to each evening performance. Audience members can enjoy a Q and A session with the actors after Thursday night performances July 1 and 8.

Single ticket prices range from $25 to $53, (excluding children's productions). Discounts are available for subscribers, seniors, students, and groups. Season tickets are still available, and provide patrons the greatest discount and flexibility. Tickets can be ordered by calling 610-282-WILL or online at www.pashakespeare.org.

The Season Sponsor for 2010 is Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. Associate Season Sponsors are The Morning Call, Service Electric Cable TV and Communications, and the Harry C. Trexler Trust. Director Sponsors are Linda Lapos and Paul Wirth.
The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival at DeSales University is the Official Shakespeare Festival of The Commonwealth and a professional, not-for-profit theatre company. An independent 501 c 3 organization, PSF receives support from DeSales University and relies on contributions from individuals, government agencies, corporations and foundations. PSF is a constituent of the Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre, and a member of the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia, the Shakespeare Theatre Association of America, the Lehigh Valley Arts Council, and Discover Lehigh Valley.

Artists' Biographies

Dennis Razze (Director, Forum; Associate Artistic Director, PSF) is the Director of Theatre at DeSales University. He directed PSF's highly acclaimed production of 1776 last season. He recently directed Guys and Dolls for Act 1. Mr. Razze has directed more than 50 productions at DeSales and was awarded Certificates of Merit from the American College Theatre Festival for his direction of Fiddler on the Roof, Oklahoma! and The Music Man. He was the guest director for Lehigh University's production of The Music Man at Zoellner Arts Center in 2003. A founding member of PSF, he has taught at DeSales for 26 years. For PSF, he directed Man of La Mancha, A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It, The Taming of the Shrew, and Twelfth Night. Mr. Razze has also composed scores for PSF's The Tempest, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet, and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Steven Casey (Choreographer) is the Artistic Director and resident choreographer for the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, PA, where he has directed and choreographed more than 70 productions. Credits: PSF: 1776; National and European touring companies of 42nd St., A Chorus Line, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Regional: Paper Mill Playhouse, North Carolina Theatre, St. Louis M.U.N.Y. Dallas Musicals, T.U.T.S. Atlanta, and Cleveland Opera.

Mike Corr (Marcus Lycus) PSF: Sancho in Man of La Mancha (2004) and Doolittle in My Fair Lady (2006).

Brad DePlanche* (Pseudolus) PSF: Passepartout in Around the World in 80 Days and Lady Enid/Nicodemus in Irma Vep. Recent shows: Greater Tuna, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), Florida Studio Theatre, and Triumph of Love, Clarence Brown. Off-Off Broadway: China-The Whole Enchilada and Armchair in Hell. Regional: American Conservatory Theater, South Coast Repertory, Syracuse Stage, Utah Shakespearean Festival, Orlando Shakespeare Theater, Cape Playhouse, Hangar Theatre, B Street Theatre, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, and Seattle Shakespeare Company.

Nathan Diehl (Musical Director) performs as a piano soloist and accompanist throughout the Lehigh Valley. He has conducted and performed with local pit orchestras, choirs, and chamber groups. He serves as a musical director at DeSales University and teaches musical theatre for the Summer Theatre Institute. He is a general music educator at Moravian Academy's Lower School. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Moravian College and a Master of Music degree and Orff Certification from West Chester University.

Chris Faith* (Hysterium) PSF: Shrew (2007), King Lear (2008), and Complete Works (2009). Off-Broadway: The Secret Garden and at the York Theatre. Credits: Wilma, the Arden, 1812 Productions, Act II Playhouse, People's Light, Luna Theatre, and Mauckingbird Theatre, where he just played Truman Capote in the one-man show, TRU. A multiple Barrymore nominee for Best Actor in a Play and Best Supporting Actor in a Musical, he won for Best Ensemble in Cinderella. He will perform in the Broadway- bound The Seduction of Sheila Valentine at the Flatrock Playhouse in North Carolina.

Michael Ferguson (Wigs and Make-up Designer, Forum/Merry Wives/R&J) is a graduate student studying Wig and Makeup Design at UNC School of the Arts, and has designed and assisted on several shows including Picnic, Maria Stuarda, and Albert Herring. Other wig and makeup work includes The Revenger's Tragedy, Big River, Southern Baptist Sissies, and La Cage Aux Folles.

Sam Fleming (Costume Designer) Credits: Los Angeles Opera, San Francisco Opera, Alley Theatre, ALLIANCE THEATRE, Arizona Theatre Co, Playmaker's Repertory, Hartford Stage, Denver Center, Buffalo Studio Arena, Center Stage, Houston Opera Studio, Skylight Opera, ACT Seattle, Georgia Shakespeare Festival and Berkeley Rep. She designed 50+ productions for Milwaukee Repertory Theater during 14 seasons. NYC credits include Pearl Theatre and The Mint. She is the associate costume designer for The Phantom of the Opera USA.

Larry Gelbart (Book) (02/25/1928 - 09/11/2009) A Chicago-born writer and producer who achieved success for his work in radio, television, film, and theater, Mr. Gelbart began his professional career in the late 1940s, before reaching the age of twenty, writing for such radio shows as The Eddie Cantor Show, The Maxwell House Coffee Time with Danny Thomas, Command Performance, The Jack Paar Show, The Joan Davis Show, and The Bob Hope Show. By the early 1950s he was writing for television, including The All-Star Revue; The Red Buttons Show; Honestly, Celeste!; Caesar's Hour, and The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom; his television work in the 1960s, '70s, '80s and '90s includes The Danny Kaye Show, The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine, the hugely successful M*A*S*H, Barbara Streisand... and Other Musical Instruments, Roll Out!, and the award-winning HBO television film, Barbarians at the Gate. In addition to ... Forum, his work for the theater includes the plays Sly Fox (1976) and Mastergate (1989); and the musicals The Conquering Hero (1960), and City of Angels (1989; which won six 1990 Tony Awards, including Best Book of a Musical and Best Musical). His film work includes Oh, God! the Oscar-nominated Tootsie, and Blame It on Rio.

Matthew Given (Production Manager and Sound Designer) PSF: third season as Production Manager and seventh as Resident Sound Designer. Some designs include A Midsummer Night's Dream, Dracula, King Lear, The Winter's Tale, and The Merchant of Venice. He has also designed at the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, The Gala Hispanic Theatre, Rutgers University, and various theatres in the New York City area. He holds an M.F.A. in sound design from Ohio University.

Laura Keller* (Gymnasia) performing the role of Gymnasia in L.A. with the Reprise Theatre Company and at the Goodspeed Opera House. Regional credits include La Cage Aux Folles, On The Town, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. She is a graduate of the Rock School for the Pennsylvania Ballet.

Kurt Landisman (Lighting Designer) is based in the San Francisco Bay Area where his recent credits include productions of Equivocation, Noises Off, A Marvelous Party, and Speech & Debate. Opera credits: San Francisco Opera, Spoleto Festival, Virginia Opera, Minnesota Opera, Tulsa Opera, Knoxville Opera, Hawaii Opera Theatre, and Los Angeles Opera. Theatre credits also include the world premiers of Sam Shepard's plays, True West and Fool For Love, which ran Off Broadway for more than two years, and was also produced in Singapore and Tokyo. Credits include American Conservatory Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, San Jose Rep, Arizona Theatre Company, and Laguna Playhouse. He was the resident lighting designer for California Shakespeare Festival and San Jose Repertory Theatre. His lighting designs for theatre have garnered 16 Bay Area Critics Awards and five Los Angeles Dramalogue Awards.

Beth McVey* (Domina) Broadway: 42nd Street, Annie, Nine as Claudia and Carla, Phantom, Beauty and the Beast as Mrs. Potts. National Tours: Lend me a Tenor as Diana, Guys and Dolls as Adelaide, Copacabana as Gladys, UrineTown as Ms. Pennywise. Regionally she has played Mame, Desire, Aldonza, Carlotta, Dolly, La Lume, Evita, and Julie.

Allison Mixon* (Vibrata) a graduate from The Juilliard School with a B.F.A. in dance, she has performed for Paramount Pictures, Disneyland Entertainment, New Balance, Los Angeles Opera, Opera New Jersey, Opera Carolina, Fashion Institute of Design Merchandising, Sacramento Music Circus, Pasadena Playhouse, and Theater League.

Jonathan Mulhearn (Hero) is a recent graduate of DeSales and a graduate of the British American Drama Academy. Last seen as Nicely Nicely in Act 1's Guys and Dolls and as the Courier in 1776.

Will Neuert (Scenic Designer) designed last season's 1776. PSF: Cyrano de Bergerac (2008), Amadeus (2007), As You Like It (2006), and Henry IV, Part I (2005). He has created the scenic designs for all Act 1 productions for the past 17 years. He was a board member and is a founding artist of PSF. As resident designer, he designed or supervised all guest designers of scenery for the Festival's first nine seasons. He has worked at the North Shore Music Theatre, Ogunquit Playhouse, Peninsula Players, St. Michael's Playhouse, University of Notre Dame, The Ohio State University, and Walt Disney Imagineering.

Iris Dawn O'Brien* (Production Stage Manager) Recent credits include: Hamlet at The Broadhurst Theatre, Passion Play at Epic Theatre Ensemble, Parallel Lives at Northern Stage, The Holiday and The Imaginary Invalid at Elm's Shakespeare, Rough Crossing, Passion Play, and Trouble in Mind at Yale Repertory Theatre, We Have Always Lived in the Castle at New York Workshop, Dreyfus in Rehearsal at Theatre Row. Other credits include LA Film Festival 2009, Productions at NYU-Graduate Acting, Yale School of Drama, and World Performance Projects.

Rob Richardson* (Miles Gloriosus) Broadway: A Tale of Two Cities (ensemble, Sydney Carton u/s). Most recently: The Full Monty with Elaine Stritch and Michael Rupert at Paper Mill Playhouse (Reg, Jerry u/s and performed). Favorites include Disney's Beauty and the Beast (the Beast, Walnut Street Theatre), Kiss Me, Kate (Fred/Petruchio, Flat Rock Playhouse), Oklahoma! with Sandy Duncan (Curly, Cherry County Playhouse), 1776 (Thomas Jefferson, Olney Theatre Center), Camelot (Lionel, Arthur u/s, Geva Theatre Center) and the National Tours of Showboat (Ravenal) and 1776 (Rutledge).

Burt Shevelove (Book) (09/19/1915 - 04/08/1982) was born in Newark, New Jersey, graduated from Brown University, and received a Master's degree in theater from Yale. While at Yale, he wrote lyrics for a musical version of Plautus's Mostellaria and later became the resident director for the Yale Dramatic Association. After serving as an ambulance driver in World War II, he began a career as a writer, director and producer for radio and television, working with such stars as Judy Garland, Red Buttons, Jack Paar, Cyril Richard, Nancy Walker and Victor Borge; his work won him Emmy and Peabody Awards. His Broadway career began in 1948 with Small Wonder, a revue for which he wrote material, co-produced and directed. He also directed a revival of Kiss Me Kate (1956), Hallelujah Baby! (1968), No, No, Nanette (1971; he also wrote the book), The Frogs (1974; written with Stephen Sondheim and performed in and around the Yale University pool) and Happy New Year (1980; he also wrote the book). He co-wrote the film, The Wrong Box, with Larry Gelbart.

Stephen Sondheim (Music and Lyrics, Forum) 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. 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 Dramatists 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 recipient of a Kennedy Center Honor in 1993.

Wayne S. Turney* (Erronius) portrayed Lepidus/Schoolmaster/Clown in Antony and Cleopatra last season. Other PSF Credits: Ragueneau in Cyrano, Archidamus/Antigonus/Old Shepherd in The Winter's Tale, Colonel Pickering in My Fair Lady, and Argan in The Imaginary Invalid. Now an Associate Professor with the Performing and Fine Arts faculty at DeSales, he recently played Willy Loman Act 1's Death of a Salesman ('09). Turney was formerly a regular with the Great Lakes Theatre Festival, Actors' Summit, and the Cleveland Playhouse, among others.

Carl N. Wallnau* (Senex) PSF: A Midsummer Night's Dream (2009) as Peter Quince and Egeus; Malvolio in Twelfth Night (2008), Emperor Joseph in Amadeus (2007), Andrew Wyke in Sleuth, and DeGuiche in Cyrano De Bergerac (2008). Regional: Second Stage, Hartford Stage, Paper Mill Playhouse, People's Light and Orlando Shakespeare Theater. He is currently the Artistic Director of the professional Centenary Stage Company as well as Associate Professor of Theatre Arts and Chairman, Communication & Fine Arts Department at Centenary College.

Patrick Mulcahy (Producing Artistic Director, PSF) Since assuming leadership in 2003, Mr. Mulcahy has had the pleasure of stewarding PSF's return to excellence and financial stability, the rebuilding of the professional company of artists, and achieving increasing national recognition for the Festival. Further accomplishments include PSF's first-ever award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and attracting a company of artists including winners and nominees of the Tony, Obie, Emmy, Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, Jefferson, and Barrymore awards to the Festival, growth in all income areas, 50% increase in annual attendance, and the expansion of the number of Actors' Equity contracts per season. As a professional director, actor and fight director, credits include Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional theatre, television, and radio. Mr. Mulcahy directed Vera Farmiga in The Real Thing and has acted with Angela Basset, Peter MacNicol, HAl Holbrook, Joan Cusack, Don Cheadle, Anne Meara, Milo O'Shea, Cynthia Nixon, Tony Shaloub, Bradley Whitford, and others at the New York Shakespeare Festival, Hartford Stage, The Roundabout Theatre, Great Lakes Theatre Festival, Syracuse Stage, and the Walnut Street Theatre. He served as fight director for Tom Hulse and Timothy Busfield in A Few Good Men on Broadway and for Off-Broadway productions starring John Savage, John Mahoney, Marcia Gay Harden, and Patrick Dempsey. For PSF, he directed Antony and Cleopatra (2009), The Winter's Tale (2007), Henry IV, Part I (2005), The Tempest (1999), and acted in and served as fight director for The Taming of the Shrew (1998) and Julius Caesar (1997). As Head of Acting at DeSales, Patrick directed ten productions for Act 1, including I Hate Hamlet, The Grapes of Wrath, The Foreigner, and The Diary of Anne Frank. He was also the founding director of The Summer Theatre Institute at DeSales University. He holds an M.F.A. from Syracuse University.

* indicates member of Actors' Equity Association.

 

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