Melissa EiselePulse Reporter
'
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum' starts at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday with a pre-show lecture at 1:30 p.m. in the Christian H. Moe Laboratory Theater. Additional performances are on May 5 and 6 at 7:30. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors 60 and up, and $6 for students and children. The 40th anniversary season at McLeod Theater will end with a roar of laughter when "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" opens Friday.
As with all the plays of McLeod Theater's 40th season, except "Fences," this is the second time "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" has been produced in the theater, said director Tom Kidd, an associate professor of acting and directing in the Theater Department.
Larry Gelbert, of "MASH" fame, and Burt Shevelove originally wrote the musical with music and lyrics written by Stephen Sondheim. It premiered on Broadway in 1962 and went on to win five Tony Awards, including best actor in musical, best supporting actor in a musical, best musical, best author and best director.
As the story goes, Pseudolus is a slave desperate for his freedom. The only way he sees out of his life of servitude is to assist his young master, Hero, to earn the love of Philia, who Miles Gloriosus already owns. In doing so, Pseudolus also has to avoid his slave-master, Lycus, and Gloriosus. Meanwhile, Erronious is searching for his children who have been missing for years.
This play is based on the comedies of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus, injected with some burlesque comedy and some modern day fun, Kidd said.
He said when he was preparing to do this show, he asked if there is burlesque anymore, and he decided that there is in Las Vegas.
"We've sort of taken a Vegas take on it, like ancient Rome as Vegas," Kidd said.
Other than that, Kidd said he has keep fairly true to the play, maintaining the same number of cast members and the burlesque comedy.
"This is really a burlesque show. The songs are just there to give us moments between all the comedy bits and the bits where we get to see all the good-looking girls in very little clothes, which is very burlesque," Kidd said.
And the "girls in very little clothes" seem to be a point of attraction for many of the male actors.
William Barney, a freshman from Chicago studying music-theater, plays Miles Gloriosus, a character he said is a "big, pompous Roman soldier." He said having the beautiful girls around him is great to have on stage.
"You have all the girls around you all the time," Barney said.
He isn't the only male cast member enjoying the view though.
Joshua Allen Taylor, an undecided graduate student from Murphysboro, who plays the sneaky Marcus Lycus, said one of the most enjoyable things about this play is the girls.
Nik Wenzel, a senior from Pecatonica, near Rockford, studying music, plays Pseudolus, and he said he hopes the girls won't be a distraction for him.
"A distraction could be very disastrous, but I've become pretty used to it," he said.
Perhaps more important than the pretty girls is just the great cast.
Taylor, who has performed on stage about 10 times, said this is the best cast he has ever experienced.
Wenzel, who has done about 25 performances, said the cast is fantastic.
"Everybody comes from different backgrounds," he said. "You've got people who are really strong dancers. You have people who are strong singers. You have people who are very, very strong actors."
"We've all been learning so much from this production," Wenzel said.
