A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM Opens At The Rinker Playhouse November 23

The cast and crew of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum are deep into rehearsals and preparation for the show's November 23rd opening. Forum, an MNM Theatre Company co-presentation with the Kravis Center, will run in the venue's Rinker Playhouse through December 8th.

Light, fast-paced, witty, irreverent, and completely politically incorrect, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is one of the funniest musicals ever written. Based on the works of the Roman playwright Plautus (254 - 184 BCE), whose comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety, the show focuses on Pseudolus, a crafty slave who struggles to win the hand of a beautiful but slow-witted courtesan named Philia for his young master Hero in exchange for freedom. The plot twists and turns and is filled with cases of mistaken identity, slamming doors, and a showgirl or two. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum allows MNM's terrific ensemble of comedic actors to shine.

The production's director, Jonathan Van Dyke is extremely enthusiastic about the show: "I am so enjoying taking this riotous trip to the Forum with MNM and I know this cast would make Titus Maccius Plautus proud!" he says. "They're all welcoming this material with open arms and are going to supply our audiences their denarius worth of hilarity!"

"This is the first musical for which Stephen Sondheim wrote both the music and the lyrics," Paul Reekie, Forum's musical director explains. "Some people find Sondheim's later works more difficult to enjoy because they are musically dissonant, but Forum has traditional harmonies and many of the songs are eminently hummable! MNM is again proud to have an amazing six-piece band for the show."

"It's a farce, effortlessly shifting the audience from humor to biting social commentary on a dime all while throwing lyrics and lines as speedily as it can," says Johnbarry Green, who plays A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum's Pseudolus "It's the reason I love the piece and why it's so challenging. Every moment has to be carefully constructed to walk that delicate edge, otherwise they can fail contextually. That's why it's such a crowning achievement when it works."

Along with Green as Pseudolus, the Forum cast includes Michael Scott Ross* as Hysterium, Aaron Bower as Domina, J Savage* as Hero, Terry Hardcastle* as Marcus Lycus, Troy Stanley as Senex, Sean William Davis as Miles Gloriosus, Paul Thompson as Erronius, and Meg Frost as Philia. Other cast members include Victoria Joleen Anderson, Lauren Cluett, Alexandra Dow, Stephen Eisenwasser, Frank Francisco, Elijah Pearson-Martinez, Meredith Pughe, Ashley Rubin, and Alexandra Van Hasselt.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum will run from November 23 - December 8. (There will be a preview performance on November 22nd.) The production will take place in the Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center. Tickets are $39 - $55 and are on sale now. For tickets and information call 561-832-7469; online: kravis.org or mnmtheatre.org. For group rates and sales call 561-651-4438.

MNM Theatre Company attained not-for-profit 501(c)(3) status in 2018. They are an award- winning theatre company based in the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts.

For more information about MNM Theatre Company please visit mnmtheatre.org.

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