WT Theater’s last production of the 2024-2025 season, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, is a hilarious, picture perfect, masterpiece. Forum, a comedy, was first published by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart in 1962 and includes music and lyrics by the revered Stephen Sondheim. More than the catchy tunes and great writing though, WT Theater brought the scenes to life in an amazingly goofy way.
I attended opening night and can’t express how funny I found this musical to be. From the opening number, it is goofy, attention-grabbing and oh-so colorful. The set of the musical includes three houses in Rome and they are all colorful, creative and just perfect for the characters that occupy them. Before the curtain is ever even raised, we are greeted by Pseudolus, Ray Barber, who introduces us to the entire cast and scene, filling us in on all the town workings. Pseudolus catches us up so he can then explain how he attempted to… acquire a courtesan to buy his freedom. But of course, it’s not a comedy if things go wrong in the best ways, for the audience at least. Barber’s portrayal of Pseudolus was confident and natural, which could not have been easy with such a great role.
The musical is sexy with innuendos left and right plus some pretty obvious jokes that had even the oldest in the crowd laughing. There was not a time that anyone was laughing alone, all the jokes landed and made the experience just fun. As such though, Forum is rated PG-13 and comes with a content warning for “sexual innuendo, dramatized depiction of an attempt at self-harm, depiction of smoking and drinking, enslaved people and men and women who are engaged in prostitution,” content warning in the program.
Don’t misunderstand me though, it wasn’t all sex jokes and being silly, the main goal is evident and there’s plenty of character-building. With the actors staying consistent in their portrayals of their character/s throughout the show. A special shout out to the Courtesans and Proteans, the characters playing multiple roles such as the guards and Marcus Lycus’ slaves, who added to the main scenes’ comedy with extra faces or small actions. It made a well-rounded and complete production, not just because of them though. From the moment you got in the theater you could hear Italian music and the lighting was colorful and creative, matching colors for a beautiful scene before and during. The costumes, designed by Anne Medlocke, were perfect for their characters. I don’t know much about Rome 200 years before the Christian era, or at all, but they definitely looked how I would imagine. I especially liked the correlation of Pseudolus and Hysterium’s, Bella Bailey, slave robes, since they are both from the same household, but they were different enough to stand out.
As someone who proudly loves comedy and comedy movies, it had me laughing so hard I was gasping, people were cackling, we were nearly coming out of our seats, and we gave a well deserved standing ovation at the end. The cast, crew, and production team worked really hard on this and it shows, I would definitely see it again and it has become a new top musical for me for sure. So what are you still doing reading this? Go get your tickets!
April 26 – 7:30pm, Branding Iron Theater
May 1, 2, 3 – 7:30pm, Branding Iron Theater
May 4 – 2:30pm, Branding Iron Theater
Email [email protected] or visit here to request your tickets. You can also call, 806-651-2810 or visit the box office, Monday through Friday: 2:30 p.m – 5:00 p.m.; and one hour prior to performance. The box office is located in the Grand Lobby on the North end of the Sybil B. Harrington Fine Arts Complex. There is assigned seating so get your tickets now!
April 26 – 7:30pm, Branding Iron Theater
May 1, 2, 3 – 7:30pm, Branding Iron Theater
May 4 – 2:30pm, Branding Iron Theater
