FORUM to be staged in Hamilton

HTI's A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart
Based on the Plays of Plautus
Originally Produced on the Broadway Stage by Harold S.
Prince
Performed with permission from Music Theatre
International

Show dates and times:

Friday, November 3rd, 2006 at 8pm
Saturday, November 4th, 2006 at 8pm

Friday, November 10th, 2006 at 8pm
Saturday, November 11th, 2006 at 8pm
Sunday, November 12th, 2006 at 2pm

Friday, November 17th, 2006 at 8pm
Saturday, November 18th, 2006 at 8pm

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum will be
performed at the Downtown Arts Centre located at 28
Rebecca Street at the corner of Hughson Street in
downtown Hamilton, Ontario. For tickets call the HTI
Box Office at (905) 522-3032 or visit in person at 140
MacNab Street North. Tickets are $23 each. Students
and seniors are $20 each. Groups of 16 or more are $18
each. This HTI production is presented by Oldies 1150.

Setting:  Two hundred years before the Christian era,
a day in spring. A street in Rome in front of the
houses of Erronius, Senex and Lycus.

The Story: Broadway's greatest farce is light,
fast-paced, witty, irreverent and one of the funniest
musicals ever written - the perfect escape from life's
troubles. Forum combines the situations from
time-tested, 2000 year old comedies of Roman
playwright Plautus with the infectious energy of
vaudeville. The result is a non-stop laugh-fest in
which a crafty slave struggles to win the hand of a
beautiful but slow-witted courtesan for his young
master, in exchange for freedom.

History: Originally opened on Broadway in 1962 at the
Alvin Theatre. Produced by Harold Prince it played for
a total of 964 performances and went on to win 6 Tony
Awards including Best Musical. The original production
starred Zero Mostel who won a Tony for his performance
of Pseudolus. The musical was later revived on
Broadway in 1972 with Phil Silvers giving a Tony
award-winning turn as Pseudolus. Its most recent
Broadway revival was in 1996 with Nathan Lane winning
a Tony for his version of Pseudolus. In a bit of
gender-bending casting Whoopi Goldberg later went on
to replace Lane in the role. A cinematic version of
the musical directed by Richard Lester (Help!,
Superman II) was released in theatres in 1966. The
film version starred Zero Mostel as Pseudolus, Phil
Silvers as Marcus Lycus, Buster Keaton (in his final
film role) as Erronius and Michael Crawford (the
original "Phantom") as Hero. The film won the 1967
Oscar for Best Score (Adaptation or Treatment).

Songs Include: Comedy Tonight, Love I Hear, Free, The
House of Marcus Lycus, Lovely, Pretty Little Picture,
Everybody Ought to Have a Maid, I'm Calm, Impossible,
Bring Me My Bride, That Dirty Old Man, That'll Show
Him, Farewell and Echo Song.

Production Team of HTI's A Funny Things Happened On
The Way To The Forum:

Director: David Mallis
Producer: Jeannette Franklin
Musical Director: Anne Barnshaw
Courtesans Choreographer: Sharon Reynolds
Dance Captain: Christine Forsyth-Bering
Stage Manager & Script Assistant: V. Angela Burley
Set Designer: Tom Levely
Lighting Designer: Patrick Brennan
Hair Stylist: Toni Forsyth
Properties: Eileen MacPherson
Costume Supervisor: Beryl Harrison
Usher Captain: Stewart Mason
Lighting Board Operator: Mae Ellen O'Grady
Master Carpenters: Bob Reynolds, Tom Levely
Set Builders: David Brownhill, John Campbell-Stalker
Set Painters & Decorators: Sharon Reynolds, Taylor
Torok, Barb Forsyth, Darren Barlow, David DiFrancesco
Marketing Manager: Randy Coutts
Transportation and Set-Up Crew: Bob Reynolds, Tom
Levely, David Brownhill, Keith MacPherson

Cast of HTI's A Funny Things Happened On The Way To
The Forum:

Pseudolus: Tom Levely
Hysterium: Ian McKechnie
Lycus: Paul Damario
Hero: Joel Ricci
Philia: Stephanie Lawlor
Senex: Bob Reynolds
Domina: Sharon Reynolds
Miles Gloriosus: David DiFrancesco
Erronius: David Brownhill
Panacea: Sarah VanBeveren
Tintinabula: Samantha Knapp
Vibrata: Christine Forsyth-Bering
Gymnasia: Anita Leduc
Gemini Twin A: Pamela Brownhill
Gemini Twin B: Cathy Foster
Proteans: Rodney Diverlus, Roger Foster, Michael
Patricelli

A Short History of HTI: In 1956 a group of dynamic and
talented people created The Hamilton Theatre Company,
presenting their first show, South Pacific, at
Westdale Secondary School. In 1960, Hamilton Theatre
Company became Hamilton Theatre Incorporated (HTI).
HTI's headquarters then moved from above a restaurant
on King Street to the Old Fire Hall at the corner of
Strathcona and Head Street. After more than 25 years
at the Old Fire Hall, HTI's headquarters moved again
in 1987, to its present location on MacNab Street
North. HTI's performance spaces over the years have
included Westdale Secondary School, Mohawk College,
Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School, The Great Hall
of Hamilton Place and HTI's Studio Theatre. HTI is
currently presenting their season in the newly
renovated Downtown Arts Centre, a 300-seat theatre
located at 28 Rebecca Street, the former Hamilton
Headquarters of The Salvation Army. HTI has been a
training ground and a place for theatre people to hone
their art. Acting, singing, dancing, designing,
creating, engineering, working and playing together
has made HTI one of the most successful and enduring
community theatre companies in Southern Ontario. HTI
is an organization completely made up of volunteers
all with a passion and love for the theatrical arts.

Media Contact: Lyla Miklos - Publicist, Hamilton
Theatre Inc.
Media E-mail: hamilton_theatre_inc@yahoo.ca

Website: www.hamiltontheatre.com
Mailing Address: 140 MacNab Street North, Hamilton,
Ontario, Canada, L8R 2M3
Box Office Phone: (905) 522-3032
Box Office E-mail: hti.tickets@gmail.com
Fax: (905) 522-3048
Studio Line: (905) 522-1715

Don't Miss a Toronto News Story Sign up for all the news on the Fall season, discounts & more...