Shows · A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum · Alvin Theatre, 1962
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, 1962
Opened May 8, 1962
Closed August 29, 1964
964 performances
Original
Broadway
6 Tony Awards
Of the productions that opened in the 1960s, this had the 21st longest run.
Other stagings of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum 2 more
Who was in it34 named
Judy Alexander
Lucienne Bridou
David Evans
Lisa James
Roberta Keith
Gloria Kristy
Myrna White
Lisa Ackerman
Danny Dayton
Patricia Dunn
Barbara London
Frank Mchugh
Denise Mclaglen
Sally Neal
Ronald Ross
Dick Shawn
Preshy Marker as Philia
Creative team
- Director
- George Abbott
- Choreographer
- Jack Cole
- Orchestrations
- Irwin Kost
Tony Awards 6 from 8 nominations
Around this production
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart. Inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus (254–184 BC), specifically Curculio, Pseudolus, Miles Gloriosus, and Mostellaria, the musical tells the bawdy story of a slave named Pseudolus and his attempts to win his freedom by helping his young master woo the girl next door. The plot displays many classic elements of farce, including puns, the slamming of doors, comedy of mistaken identity (frequently involving characters disguising themselves as one another), and satirical comments on social class. The title derives from a line…
New York Times critic Howard Taubman gleefully described some of the show’s more ridiculous situations, such as Jack Gilford “in a shimmering white gown and pretending to be a dead, yet agitated, virgin.” Historical Dictionary of the Broadway Musical Volume 22 William A Everett Paul R, p. 159
I laughed twice and thrice and started in all over again, and I now figure that if future seasons are going to be as skimpy and as dull as this one, I may have to have Funny Thing to keep me going every year, doctor's orders.
More Opening Nights On Broadway A Critical Quotebook of Compiled By Steven Suski, p. 336Something wrong here? Correct a field or report the problem. Every change is recorded in public under the contributor licence.