A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

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A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Reprise Theatre Company at the Freud Playhouse

Reviewed by Les Spindle

March 18, 2010

"Something familiar...something peculiar," promises the opening song. Indeed so, and in a very good way. Following his Broadway breakthrough as a lyricist for "Gypsy" and "West Side Story," Stephen Sondheim made his debut as a composer-lyricist in 1962 with this madcap vaudevillian farce, adapted by co-librettists Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart from the comedies of Plautus of ancient Rome. The show endures as a side-splitting and melodic lark. It requires performers as skilled in comedy timing and physical dexterity as they are in song and dance. Director David Lee's revival meets those challenges in a scrumptiously satisfying revisit to an old favorite—faithful to the original, though often fresh and inventive.

Central to the narrative's lunacy is the wily slave Pseudolus, who'll do anything to obtain his freedom—from chasing down a mare to get sweat for a secret potion to bullying his cohort Hysterium into masquerading as a dead female virgin. Lee Wilkof's Pseudlous takes charge of situations with little muss or fuss. The actor doesn't push his gag lines, and he's not a mugger in the mold of Zero Mostel, who originated this role. For the most part, Wilkof's restrained playing is quite effective.

After all, there are plenty of characters around Pseudolus who could never be accused of subtlety. None are quite as brazen as Ruth Williamson's battle-axe wife, Domina. Towering over the men around her and physically pummeling the helpless slave Hysterium (the uproarious Larry Raben) as she sings, she's Ethel Merman by way of Attila the Hun, to hilarious effect. Her scenery-chewing "Farewell" (added during the shows' 1972 revival) is a highlight.

The evening is filled with scintillatingly funny performances: Michael Kostroff's weasly procurer, Marcus Lycus; Alan Mandell's befuddled codger, Erronius, searching for his long-lost children; Stuart Ambrose's egotistical warrior, Miles Gloriosus; Erich Bergen's dewy-eyed romantic, Hero; Annie Abrams as his brainless but gorgeous beloved, Philia; and Ron Orbach's horny wannabe philanderer, Senex. Also sublime are the multipurpose Proteans (Matthew Patrick Davis, Russ Marchand, and Justin Michael Wilcox), as nimble a trio of eunuchs, soldiers, and whatnots as you'll ever see. Likewise sensational are the athletic courtesans (Meg Gillentine, Mercy Malick, Bradley Benjamin, Candy Olsen, Tonya Kay, and Laura Keller), put through their stunning paces by choreographer Peggy Hickey.

Steve Orich's crackerjack music direction serves the sprightly score terrifically, and the visual elements (Bradley Kaye's set, Kate Bergh's costumes, and Jared A, Sayeg's lighting) are lush and lovely. This delicious evening of song and slapstick restores the "comedy" in musical comedy.