★★★ REVIEW: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Paris) | Sondheim show at Lido 2 Paris

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OHMYGOD HEY!

I recently took a trip to Paris, France to see a rarely produced musical: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

The show, which is currently being revived at the Lido 2 Paris, began its life as a Tony Award winning Broadway musical with a score by a young Stephen Sondheim.

Check out today's new video review for my thoughts on this zany show, whether it holds up to modern sensibilities and how it played to a largely Parisian audience...

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00:00 | introduction
03:07 | history / context
07:40 | what was this revival like?
17:13 | strengths / weaknesses
25:13 | performances

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#sondheim #paris #theatre

[christopherbutler]

I still find it amazing this score wasn't even nominated for a Tony, but wins best musical.

[CorrineJones-kdph]

This is one of my favorite Sondheim shows! Mostly because my very strict Catholic high school somehow got away with performing this because the administration thought it was some kind of vaguely historical play.

We weren’t allowed to perform Once Upon a Mattress because the title was too suggestive, but a play about prostitution was fine 🤣

[rburns]

Enjoyed the matching bear. Top marks for styling today. Happy Christmas 🎄

[HannibalFan]

'...Forum' is one of my favorite shows of all time. I even got to play Domina in a community theater production about 20 years ago. The first Broadway musical I took my son to see was the 1990s revival with Nathan Lane. He was to mesmerized he forgot to applaud!

The show can be a lesson in theater history. Roman comedies all took place in and around three houses on stage. The names all reflect their characters (Senex = old man, Domina = lady of the house, Pseudolus = trickster, Miles Gloriosus literally means 'braggart soldier', etc.). Curtains in Greek and Roman theaters dropped to the floor, as they had no way to raise them. And so on.

One of the show's creators, Larry Gelbart, went on to create the long-running TV show 'M*A*S*H'.

Fun Fact: The original West End production in 1963 featured Jon Pertwee as Marcus Lycus. He was set to reprise the role in the film until the producers managed to sign Phil Silvers. so they created the role of the Boatman for Jon so he could still be in it.

While I like the film very much, especially with Zero Mostel and Jack Gilford recreating their roles of Pseudolus and Hysterium, it's disappointing in that half the songs are omitted, including the most important one of all, 'Free'.

Another fun fact: Director Richard Lester couldn't get along with Zero Mostel, so he left the project, even though he's still given screen credit. There are telltale signs that indicate who took over: Buster Keaton, who also played Erronius.

[christopherbutler]

I can't wait to see your outfit when you review DOLLY!

[phililili]

This surprisingly works very well as a secondary school production, so I've seen it in that context - the kids have a lot of fun with the innuendos and physical comedy. I agree with you that UK audiences would get along with it - it's like a Roman panto, haha.

[CarinRuff]

OMG SALVE is the Christmas gift I needed this year.

[arilgato]

Forum is one of my FAVORITE Sondheim pieces ! I played Hysterium in High School in 2011 😅

I think a big reason why it isn’t produced in a BIG way in the modern age, especially in the US, is the discomfort of casting black actors as slaves. Where most shows can be “fixed” for a modern audience by casting their lead as a black person/POC, here we have the conundrum of “if we cast a black/POC actor as the lead, they will also be playing a slave shucking and jiving for freedom.” Though I think any of these parts could be played HILARIOUSLY by many black actors, there are so many parts of the script that would feel uncomfortable not only for the audience, but for the actor playing it as well. And this isn’t a script that can work around that plot point with rewriting/omissions because it IS the driving force of the plot. It’s unfortunate, because it’s SUCH good music that everyone should have in their rep and is so hilarious to watch/perform (Everybody Ought to Have a Maid ?! Come onnnn !!! 😂), but we battle in today’s world with the identity politics of this show. That’s without even getting into the courtesans literally not having lines at all and just dance solos to get a man to purchase them 😭

I think an ALL black/POC production could POTENTIALLY work, but any white people playing slave/courtesan owners with black/POC slaves/courtesans gets tricky… AS a black person, I’d love to see this material again, but I think it has too many challenges for a producer, especially on Broadway where they don’t take chances on anything, to take a chance on.

[yankee]

Very interesting. Thank you. Will there be an accompanying travel/theatre video on Aeron’s channel.

Your comments about the different sensibilities made sense. You should do a video comparing audiences in UK, US, France, (Brazil, Holland?).

Wishing you and Aeron and your families a magical Chrismas.

[leadingblind]

and Everybody Ought to Have a Maid gets stuck in my head EVERY TIME I so much I THINK about this show.

[perrinedupont]

Love the video, as always ! I got to see the production, and absolutely loved it ! As a french audience member, it was lovely to understand jokes in both languages, and to me the physical comedy was on point, especially the chasing around part (maybe they turned it up since you came ;) ). I agree with you, the audience is not that responsive, but that is just our culture at the theatre: we are not used to make noise and interact with the actors. Furthermore, I feel like most of the french audience were old posh people, who are less likely ton interact, because the seats are way too expensive for younger audiences unfortunately... I just hope this production brings more musical theatre to Paris, because this is really lacking to french culture!!!

[carolynedwards]

I saw an amateur production of this in the late sixties and still find myself humming Comedy Tonight and recalling many of the clever lyrics. I would love to see this revived in the US.

[lucyinthesky]

i agree about the language, the humour doesn't really land well when most people have to look at the surtitles all the time... i really think this one when played in France should be played in a translated version (which already exists).

[chuckoneill]

I've seen this in a local production just a few years ago -- despite some sound issues it definitely worked well in a minimal production.
I wish I'd had the chance to see the revival with Nathan Lane.

[stevenreid]

I played Pseudolus in a community theater version of this 20 years ago. At least half the director's notes were bigger, faster, zanier. It was so much fun.

[mts]

Love Forum. It's kind of like a Neal Simon in that most levels of the theatres can do it successfully. If you have money and space for a big set, great. If not, the show still works. I did it in summer stock on a large stage and it was so much fun. Sondheim has an interview somewhere where he discusses having one opening number that the director did not like, and eventually getting to Comedy Tonight. Good interview.

[elna]

We had a big production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way To The Forum here in Barcelona last year, with the text and lyrics translated to Catalan of course (I was surprised to see in Paris they did it in English!). They changed the gender of one of the prostitutes to be a man, and that at least helped a bit. I thought you could see it's outdated in the sense that it's not what would be written about now; but knowing that it's from decades ago, it's fine. It's not the best show out there, but I had fun and the Barcelona cast was so talented that it was definitely worth it. I also wonder how well the references work in the USA, where I think most people are not familiar at all with Plautus. Here, many people have to do Latin in high school and we must read a Plautus comedy, so it's also interesting to see that in the show.

[JgmPaneque]

I love this musical. A couple of years ago I saw a fantastic version in Méridas Roman Theatre that was re-contextualised as if it were a wandering company of circus performers telling the story. The set was just three caravans and some of the characters were gender-swapped to minimised its more problematic and sexist bits. Such an amazing version, it was! (Golfus de Roma, it's called in Spain in case you want to dig a little ;) )

[treesny]

I misheard "... and you can have snacks" as "... and you can have sex." As a later Sondheim lyric has it: "But ah, Paree!" 🙂 Incidentally, the reason "Comedy Tonight" is so memorable is due to the show's original director George Abbott. When the show was in trouble out-of-town pre-Broadway, Abbott asked Sondheim to replace the original opening number, the charming but low-key "Love Is in the Air." Sondheim obliged with "Invocation" (I believe; might be wrong), which Abbott turned down. Someone -- Jerome Robbins? -- told Sondheim that he needed to write something hummable for Abbott, and that the song should instantly tell the audience that they were going to see an evening of baggy-pants vaudeville humor. And Sondheim did just that. As with Abbott's making Bernstein and Comden & Green write "Some Other Time" for Act II of "On the Town, " his theatrical savvy saved the day... and produced the most memorable song in each show. And incidentally, it was Robbins who came in and staged "Comedy Tonight" and it turned up later in the retrospective revue "Jerome Robbins' Broadway, " even though Robbins was not the choreographer of record for "Forum." FURTHER COMMENT: The role of Domina was originally played by Ruth Kobart, a classically trained singer whose career encompassed both opera and musicals; she can be seen and heard in the film version of "How to Succeed... " taking high notes in "Brotherhood of Man."

[christopherhapka]

Since you're "international" now, have you given any thought to visiting and reviewing some of the musical theatre productions at the Komische Oper Berlin? They are mostly an opera and operetta house, but they also run a few classic musicals translated into German, in their own inimitable productions. This season there are still performances left of their productions of Chicago and La Cage aux Folles. I think they may also have been the origin of Anatevka, a German language production of Fiddler on the Roof that is now being done all over the Germanosphere. It might also make a good counterpoint, seeing a German language version in Germany versus the English show in Paris. (Don't worry, there are choose-your-own-language titles on the back of the seat in front of you).