BY DAVID MARLOWE
Once upon a time in ancient Rome a playwright named Plautus was the Neilus Simonus of the day. If there had been a few other master comics like him, the Fall of the Roman Empire might only have been into the aisles, the only danger that of splitting a gut.
In 1962 Plautus’ work came to Broadway via Larry Gelbart and Burt Shevelove’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Stephen Sondheim composed the music and penned the lyrics.
Plautus’ work is the bouncing-off place for Forum. The show, which will play July 2-Aug. 8 at Vintage Theatre, 17th & Vine, is rooted in BC, and stars another BC, Bernie Cardell.
Roger Simon will play Erroneus. Boni McIntyre will play Domina. Tyler Collins will portray Hysterium.
Kelly Twedt will sing Philia. Her singing of the female lead in the Denver Victorian’s The Fantasticks last season sent audiences to auditory heaven.
It’s a big show with a big cast and director Linda Suttle has taken on the task of directing such a bigus showus in the intimacy of the Vintage. When I arrived for an interview just prior to a Saturday morning rehearsal, Suttle and assistant director Bob Leggett chatted with me. We were joined by Cardell and dance teacher Kendra Jacobs, who will choreograph the comic musical.
As we talked the rest of the cast and crew arrived. Director Suttle pointed out that there were “a number of firsts” involved in the production.
“It’s the first musical ever produced by Vintage Theatre. It’s the first time there’s been a live band... keyboards and drums onstage... at Vintage. And it’s the first show Ms. Jacobs will choreograph in its entirety,” Suttle explained. “There are also a lot of new faces in the cast.”
Jen Orf will do the lighting. Anyone who saw her work in Paragon’s Sound of a Voice will run to this show just knowing that. Likewise Sean Cochran, the designer of the very fine set for Leading Ladies, who will do the scenic design.
PHOTO BY JEFF HERSCH
IT WASN’T QUITE CLEAR what this fellow was doing in City Park recently, though it bore a passing resemblance to t’ai chi.
Phil Rosenberg Watt, who did the musical direction of The Vic’s Fantasticks, will do the same for Forum.
Gladiatorial games at the Coliseum came to mind when Suttle mentioned that she wanted to get the audience to feel a part of the action right from the start. While there will not be actual audience participation, Suttle views her cast as performers who will get either a thumbs-up or thumbs-down from everyone in the crowd.
“Think circus!” she said, and this reviewer thought “Circus Maximus.”
Suttle said that she is not normally goofy and silly. She added that she is working with assistant director Bob Leggett on finding that aspect of her personality, and enjoys discovering the slapstick humor in herself.
This reviewer felt that any director who can be as upbeat as she was at 10:30 on Saturday morning should be able to be a complete loon by noon.
The show will run for six weeks. See you at the theatre.
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