"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" a Great Success
The Nonesuch Players presented an evening of slapstick comedy and double-takes with their production of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" Thursday and Friday, February 22 and 23, at Regis College Performing Arts Center.
“With lyrics and music composed by Stephen Sondheim, ‘Forum’ is considered Broadway’s greatest farce,” said Director David Tierney in the program notes. “It is one of the lightest, wittiest, fast-paced, and funniest musicals ever written, taking comedy back to its roots, tying the time-tested 2000 year-old comedies of the Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus with the energy of classic American vaudeville theater."
The cast features students from all Upper School grades, including many veterans of previous Nonesuch Players productions: Joe Nedder ’18, Caleb Leeming ’19, Sara Stephenson ’18, Phie Jacobs ’18, Brendan Kaye ’20, Michaela Francesconi ’18, Jack Baker ’18, Tim Lapsley ’18, Charlie Bondhus ’18, Dominique Marshall ’18, Sarah Morgan ’18, Natalie Hall ’19, Maggie Monaghan ’19, Ella Caggiano ’19, Maddie Cornetta ’19, Louise Ambler ’18, Schuyler Bartlett ’21, Nora Brown ’19, Cecily Bua ’21, Thando Khumalo ’19, Maggie Leeming ’21, Hannah Long ’21, Owen Pfannenstiehl ’19, Joshua Rocha ’21, Riya Shukla ’19, Madeline Wambach ’21, and Zachary Zhang ’18.
Rivers musicians in the orchestra include: Emily Shen ’18, Theo Haviland ’19, Ashley Burgarella ’18, Yasmin Myers ’20, Eliot Do ’21, MacKenzie Larkin ’18, Daniel Weitz ’20, Lindy Billhardt ’19, and Michael Manasseh ’19.
Assisting Mr. Tierney with the production are John Bower, music director; Callie Kamanitz, ’19, choreographer; Nina Knight, ’18, assistant director; Chris Fournier, lighting designer; Mark DeLuzio, sound designer; Ian O’Malley, technical director; Judy Weiner, costume/props designer; and Dario DeMare, scenery designer. Ben Leeming is managing the crew, with Isabel Teixeira ’18 and Maya Wasserman ’18 as stage managers and Abigail Warwick ’19 on crew.
“A farce is defined as a comic dramatic work using horseplay, crude characterizations, ludicrous situations, and horseplay," noted Mr. Tierney. "‘Forum’ is all that and more, using innuendos, one-liners, and a number of traditional slapstick situations found frequently in ancient texts as well as comedic action more typical of Commedia dell’arte as was found in many vaudeville productions. The audience should take nothing seriously and nothing for granted.”
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