A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum Broadway

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM is a nonstop laughfest in which Pseudolus, a crafty slave, 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 with cases of mistaken identity, slamming doors and a showgirl or two.

Ruby gets off the bus from Utah with 'nothing but tap shoes in her suitcase and a prayer in her heart.' As fate would have it, she is immediately cast in the chorus of a Broadway show. When the theatre is forced to close, Ruby's songwriting sailor boyfriend persuades the Captain of his ship to allow the show to move on deck. Voila! Dames at sea! When the show's lead gets seasick, Ruby may have to go on for her. Will Ruby come back a star? Do you need to ask?

Bay Street Theater is pleased to announce Music Mondays, the summer concert series for July and August, with all shows at 8 pm.

A brand new Australian production of the much-loved and revolutionary rock musical, HAIR will come alive on stages in Perth, Geelong, Wyong, Wollongong, Sydney and the Gold Coast in August, September and October.

The Walnut Street Theatre for Kids Series (WST for Kids) concludes its season with FLY GUY: The Musical, running from May 31 - June 8. In this WST for Kids finale, audiences will follow along with a boy named "Buzz" and his pet fly, "Fly Guy," for a wacky adventure and small-but-mighty fun!

Regent's Park Theatre have today confirmed full casting for their production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar. The production played two sell-out seasons at the Open Air Theatre, winning both the Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival and Evening Standard Award for Best Musical, before transferring to the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2018. It will embark on a North American tour from October.

The 11-Time Tony Award-nominated musical, Tootsie, has been acquired for worldwide licensing by Music Theatre International (MTI).

Metropolis presents Stephen Sondheim's classic musical farce A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum through June 29, 2019. Broadway's greatest farce promises to have audiences rolling in the aisles. This fast-paced, witty, and irreverent comedy is one of the funniest musicals ever written.

Caroline Sheen will return to the role of 'Violet Newstead' in 9 TO 5 THE MUSICAL at the Savoy Theatre, London from 4 July 2019.

As the 2019 Summer Shakespeare Festival kicks off, The Old Globe today announced the cast and creative team with As You Like It, the Bard's fabulously charming romantic comedy, whose heroine is one of his most remarkable creations. Director Jessica Stone's recent body of work-including Barefoot in the Park, Ken Ludwig's Robin Hood!, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, and Arms and the Man-has had Globe audiences rolling in the aisles. Her Shakespearean directing debut will run June 16 - July 21, 2019 outdoors under the stars in the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre. Tickets start at $30.00 and are on sale to the general public now. Previews run June 16-21 with opening night on Saturday, June 22, 2019 at 8:00 p.m.

Need help picking a baritone audition song? Our audition experts have assembled a list of 20 songs to get you started - check out the full list which can help you have a great musical theatre audition!

Coming to the Durham Performing Arts Center from May 21st-26th is the national tour of Broadway's classic musical comedy, HELLO, DOLLY! starring the legendary Tony Award winner Betty Buckley. I recently had the great pleasure of interviewing actor Lewis J. Stadlen, who stars opposite Betty as the wealthy half-a-millionaire Horace Vandergelder.

'It only takes a moment' for America to fall in love with 'Hello, Dolly!' as the national tour is entertaining audiences across the U.S. with this classic tale. Check out what the critics are saying in the reviews from various tour stops below!

New Dramatists, Tony Honor recipient and the nation's premier playwright development laboratory, just honored three-time Tony Award winner, Nathan Lane, with its 2019 Distinguished Achievement Award at its 70th Annual Spring Luncheon Tribute at the New York Marriott Marquis.

Pacific Festival Ballet of Thousand Oaks will be premiering its new ballet version of Camelot, the original 'Game of Thrones' in two performances on May 18 at the Fred Kavli Theatre in the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. Directed and choreographed by Kim Maselli and featuring new music by Eric Allaman.

We asked, and you answered! As BroadwayWorld previously reported, the classic musical comedy A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum just celebrated the anniversary of its opening night on Broadway! To celebrate, we asked BroadwayWorld readers to name the stars that they would love to see take on the iconic role of Pseudolus. Check out some of your most popular answers below!

interACT Theatre Productions presents Stephen Sondheim's beloved musical comedy 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.' The show runs for three weekends at the South Orange Middle School (Little Theater). Opening night is this Friday, May 3rd and closing night is Saturday, May 18th, making a total of eight performances this month.

Chasing a life under the bright lights is challenging enough, but when Crohn's Disease threatened to take everything away, Lauren Lee Innis-Youren chose to fight back. Hold My Hummus: The Secret Life Of A Stubborn Soprano is the war-cry of a girl who listened to her gut, even when her gut tried to kill her.

Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts has announced Andrea McArdle and Donna McKechnie: Celebrate Sondheim & Hamlisch on Monday, July 8 at 8 pm as part of Bay Street Theater's Music Mondays concert series. Tickets range from $79 - $125 and are on sale now at baystreet.org and through the Box Office at 631-725-9500, open daily from 11am to showtime. 

The Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre's 2018/2019 Season has been a landmark for what has become a staple of the region's theatrical community. As the season opened this past September with its production of the family-favorite Annie, Way Off Broadway kicked off its 25th year of bringing live entertainment to the stage.  

The Library of Alexandria, Egypt. 415 C.E. Society is on the brink. A rising tide of religious fundamentalism threatens to wipe out the wisdom of classical antiquity. But one woman vows to save the knowledge of our ancestors no matter the cost.

Theatre by the Sea presents the world premiere of Love and Other Fables

Multi-award winning Foothill Music Theatre presents Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella, the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical from the creators of The Sound of Music and South Pacific, legendary songwriting team Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.

The producers of 9 TO 5 THE MUSICAL today announced casting for the second production of the show when it embarks on an 11 city tour of the UK and Ireland from 6 September 2019. Full casting for each venue will be announced soon.

The Kravis Center for the Performing Arts and MNM Theatre Company are pleased to announce that casting is complete for their upcoming co-production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, which will run from November 22 -  December 8 in the Kravis' Rinker Playhouse.

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that composer and orchestrator Sid Ramin, best known for his work on West Side Story, has died, according to The New York Times. Ramin was 100 years old.

Cameron Mackintosh today announces he is delighted that in honour of Stephen Sondheim's 90th birthday next March, the Queen's Theatre will be renamed the Sondheim Theatre, making him the only living artist to have a theatre named in his honour both in the West End and on Broadway. Following the renovation of wartime bomb damage and a major restoration of the auditorium and the complete backstage, the newly named Sondheim Theatre will continue as the home of world's longest running musical Les Miserables as it enters its 35th year.

Porchlight Music Theatre is proud to announce the 14th Annual Chicago Sings concert: Chicago Sings 25 Years of Porchlight, Monday, Aug. 5 at 7 p.m., at The Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave, directed by Christopher Pazdernik and Artistic Director Michael Weber with music direction by David Fiorello. Reception begins at 6 p.m. with a cocktail hour and light appetizers. Performances, awards ceremony and paddle raising begins at 7 p.m. in the Edlis Neeson Theatre. Tickets are on sale for $125 at PorchlightMusicTheatre.org or by calling 773.777.9884. Tickets at the door will be $150. The event has reserved seating and supports Porchlight Music Theatre's educational and artistic programming.

The Broadway community mourns the loss of prolific producer, director, writer, and the individual recipient of the most Tony Awards in multiple categories in history, Harold Prince, who passed away on July 31, 2019 at age 91. To commemorate his life and work, the Committee of Theatre Owners will dim the lights of Broadway theatres in New York for one minute on Wednesday, July 31 at exactly 7:45pm.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis has announced the creative team that will shape its epic production of Tony Kushner's Angels in America: Parts One and Two, running September 4 a?" October 6.

Dave Lawrence, President & CEO of the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County today announced the 2019-2020 season of the popular series CULTURE & COCKTAILS. For the 15th season in a row, from November 2019 through April 2020, five fascinating conversations will be held at The Colony Hotel's Coral Ballroom, located at 155 Hammon Avenue in Palm Beach.

When it comes to Tony Award snubbing, there are several artistic high crimes and misdemeanors. For instance, Fiorello! winning Best Musical over Gypsy, or the good Music Man besting the better West Side Story. Or how about this awful upset: Two Gentlemen of Verona (the since-forgotten musical) beating both Grease and Follies for the top honor. Perhaps worst of all is this: Even though A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM was Stephen Sondheim's first and most successful Broadway show as a composer and lyricist, and even though it would win six of its eight nominated Tony Awards in 1962-1963 (including Best Musical), Mr. Sondheim himself was not even nominated for his lyrics and score. A show that features some of the most beloved comic songs from the early 1960's--'Comedy Tonight,' 'Lovely,' and 'Everybody Ought to Have a Maid'--wasn't even nominated for these iconic numbers. (For the record, Oliver! won that year for Best Score.) Broadway's greatest composer would have to wait almost a decade to receive his first Tony Award.

Fraser Entertainment Group's AN EVENING OF CLASSIC BROADWAY will be back at LA's Rockwell Table and Stage with another new cast of performers. The celebration of the Broadway Songbook will take place on Sunday, July 21st at 8PM (doors open at 6:30).

It's a marvelous production of a so-so musical.

Porchlight Music Theatre's 25th anniversary season began with the 14th Annual Chicago Sings concert: Chicago Sings 25 Years of Porchlight, Monday, Aug. 5 at 7 p.m., at The Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave, directed by Christopher Pazdernik and Artistic Director Michael Weber with music direction by David Fiorello and a band featuring Kelsey Boltz, Cara Hartz, John McCreary, Greg Strauss, Celeste Park and Jake Saleh.

Take a trip back to the Renaissance with the regional premiere of SOMETHING ROTTEN! at Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Dr. in Lincolnshire, previewing Wednesday, August 28th, opening Wednesday, September 4th at 7:30 p.m., and closing Sunday, October 20th. Nominated for ten Tony Awards including Best Musical, this hilarious smash hit tells the tale of two playwright brothers who are desperate to outshine Shakespeare and end up producing the first ever musical! Jeff Award winner Scott Weinstein (Murder for Two and Shrek at Marriott Theatre; National Tour, Las Vegas and Chicago productions of Million Dollar Quartet) returns to the Marriott Theatre to direct, along with musical direction by Jeff Award winner Ryan T. Nelson and choreography by Jeff Award nominee Alex Sanchez.

Geva Theatre Center presents La Cage Aux Folles, with book by Harvey Fierstein, music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, based on the play by Jean Poiret, directed by Melissa Rain Anderson, with musical direction by Don Kot, and choreography by Sam Hay in the Elaine P. Wilson Stage from September 3 through October 6.

The Tony Award-Winner for Best Musical, Monty Python's Spamalot, opens TheaterWorks' 34th season on Friday, September 6, 2019 at the Peoria Center for the Performing Arts. This hilarious musical is lovingly ripped off from the classic film comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail where audiences join King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table on their quest to find the Holy Grail featuring a bevy of beautiful show girls, not to mention cows, killer rabbits, and French people. Did we mention the bevy of beautiful show girls? Book and lyrics for the production written by Eric Idle; music by John Du Prez and Eric Idle.

Cincinnati Landmark Productions announced this week its four-show 2020 Summer Classics Season at the Warsaw Federal Incline Theater.

Pride Films and Plays will stage the first Chicago production in more than a decade of A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE, the heartwarming musical created by Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty, and Terrence McNally, the team that wrote RAGTIME and ANASTASIA. A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE is based on a 1994 film starring Albert Finney as a Dublin bus conductor and features a gorgeous Irish-influenced score. Donterrio Johnson, the Jeff award-winning actor who directed PFP's BUYER AND CELLAR earlier this year and is currently appearing in THE SPITFIRE GRILL with American Blues Theater, will direct. Music direction is by Robert Ollis, who most recently music directed SOUTHERN COMFORT for Pride Films and Plays and was a 2019 Jeff nominee for his music direction of HAYMARKET: A NEW FOLK MUSICAL. Ollis was Music Director for the 2008 production of A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE, which earned five Jeff Award nominations for Bailiwick Repertory.

Nothing Like Live!a?"that's the theme of the 28th season of the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts. Always responsive to audience requests for a?oemore Broadway, more comedy, more music superstars from Bach to rock,a?? Palm Beach County's largest and most popular entertainment venue promises a dynamic playbill of award-winning shows, world-class talents and powerful performances that will generate enthusiastic standing ovations from discerning audience members of every age and demographic.

Hello folks, we're into the Follies! To kick off the new Follies Song Insights, we're looking at the song that kicks off the Follies-style numbers which close the show: 'Buddy's Blues', with Buddy himself Peter Forbes and music director Nigel Lilley.

Cincinnati Music Theatre (CMT), a resident company of the Aronoff Center for the Arts, is pleased to announce its 2019-20 Season, including two full-scale musical productions in the Jarson-Kaplan Theater and three Studio Series productions in the intimate Fifth Third Bank Theater.

Let's have a look at the 2019/2020 season at the Landestheater Linz. It is all about confessions. Confessions have to be made when you select your shows for the next season. Linz has done it wisely in the past. The Landestheater brought huge success into the steel city. Let's see, if the 2019/2020 is able to cope with the past ones.

Preliminary casting has been announced for the Hollywood Bowl's upcoming production of Into the Woods.

J's Cultural Arts Theatre presents John Bishop's THE MUSICAL COMEDY MURDERS OF 1940, the fifth & last production of the inaugural season of the new Alan & Diane Lieberman Theater & the JCAT's 12th season, at the Feldenkreis/Hanono Cultural Center at the Michael-Ann Russell JCC/Sanford L. Ziff Campus in North Miami Beach, Florida. Running from May 7-19, 2019, THE MUSICAL COMEDY MURDERS OF 1940 is directed by John Ferry, with Lighting Design by Zachary Pitchman, Costume Design by Carole Barou-Mootoo. Lilian Andron Stage Manages. The production is presented through the MARJCC's Cultural Arts Department.

It's time to walk the line. Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati presents the regional premiere of Skeleton Crew, a compelling drama about a driven team of autoworkers trying to navigate a cutthroat industry. This searing new play is by Dominique Morisseau (Detroit '67 ), a 2018 recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Foundation Fellows Program (unofficially referred to as a Genius Grant). Skeleton Crew is the final installment of Morisseau's powerful Detroit Project, which was inspired by August Wilson's landmark Century Cycle. Playing April 13-May 11, 2019. Directed by Stori Ayers. Production Sponsor is The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation.

Nathan Lane has returned to Broadway this season in the new play Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus. Lane has had an extremely diverse career, spanning over 30 years. From comedic musicals, to heart-wrenching plays, to screen work, voiceovers, and much more, Lane has become a household name.

Regent's Park Theatre have today announced principal casting for their productions of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar, alongside the full creative team for Evita.