A Comedy Tonight! Phillyist Reviews A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Tuesday night, Phillyist had the great pleasure of attending the Arden Theatre Company's production of Stephen Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. It's a show that we know quite well and we felt that we were in a good position to be tough critics if that's what was required of us.

But, it wasn't. The Arden's production was an immensely enjoyable one, from start to finish. The cast, led by Tony Braithwaite, kept the action of the Roman farce-meets-Broadway musical going at a good clip and the two and a half hours runtime were over before we knew it.

For those not familiar with Forum, it tells the story of Pseudolus, a slave who hates being a slave (Braithwaite). Pseudolus' master (for lack of a better term), the young Hero (played wide-eyed and innocently by Jarrod Lentz and his lovely tenor voice) has fallen for Philia (played with pleasant vapidity by Caroline Dooner, a relative newcomer to the Philadelphia stage who we hope to see more of), the girl next door. Of course, next door happens to be a house of ill repute, and Philia happens to be its most-prized girl: a virgin recently sold to Miles Gloriosus, warrior extraordinnaire (played by the wonderful bass Jeffrey Coon, who actually scheduled his recent wedding around Forum's production schedule). Hero will do anything to make Philia his own, and Pseudolus agrees to help him, in exchange for his freedom. And of course, as this is a farce, hilarity ensues.

From the moment he takes the stage, Braithwaite is completely captivating. He has to be: Pseudolus is rarely offstage for longer than one song. He owns "Comedy Tonight," the show's famous opening number, and every other song he sings, but periodically his ownership is challenged by Aaron Cromie, Dave Jadico, and Robert McLure, who play the Proteans. These are the characters that aren't -- instead, they serve as soldiers, servants, eunuchs, and anything else that's called for. They juggle, they tumble, and most impressively, they manage to disappear behind one door, only to emerge from another in different costumes and as different characters seconds later. The Proteans were never late on their entrances and, more impressively, never ever noticeably out of breath. Phillyist was left constantly wondering where they'd be next, and we really enjoyed seeing them interact with Braithwaite, especially when somebody onstage could no longer contain his laughter. (A fabulous moment came when, after a visible struggle, one of the Proteans, playing a soldier at the time, burst into laughter and the quick-thinking Braithwaite covered his face with a handkercheif until it passed, barely containing his own giggles.)

Veteran Philadelphia actor Tom McCarthy, who Phillyist last saw a year ago in the Philadelphia Theatre Company production of Take Me Out turned in an enjoyable performance as Hero's bumbling father Senex, and Mary Martello sang the very difficult "That Dirty Old Man" with aplomb. (In fact, all of the actors did quite well with Sondheim's somewhat difficult songs, probably owing to conductor/music director Charles Gilbert's help.) Also in the cast was Richard Ruiz, whose effite portrayal of another slave, Hysterium, was entertaining whenever he set foot onstage. His gasps, chokes, and squeaks during the song "I'm Calm" (all choices that he must have made with director Terrence J. Nolen, for they're not indicated in the original score) were, appropriately enough, hysterical, and his final moments on stage are simply not to be missed. Rounding out the company were the blue-eyeshadowed and very funny Tom Teti, playing Lycus, whoremonger extraordinnaire; Buck Schirner, whose Erronius would have had the whole audience in stiches even if he hadn't been assigned to random-intermission-entertainer; and a bevvy of courtesans, each with her own particular, very entertaining quirks (and risque costumes), played by Meredith Riley Stewart, Emily McNamara, Laura Catlaw, Colleen Hazlett, Beth Wheeler, and Jasmin Norwood.

To top off all the excellent performances, there were also excellent designers. Donald Eastman's stage breathed new life into the traditional (and required) Forumset, and Richard St. Clair's costumes were perfect for the piece. Both the set and costumes were effectively lit by James Leitner's lighting plot and everything came together beautifully with Michael Donaghy's choreography and director Nolen's staging.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum runs at the Arden Theatre until June 25 and is well worth the price of admission. Trust Phillyist: if you miss it, you'll be sorry!

In the photo: Tom McCarthy as Senex, Tony Braithwaite as Pseudolus and Richard Ruiz as Hysterium. Photo by Mark Garvin, courtesy of the Arden Theatre Company.