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A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Aaron Bower, Alexandra Dow, Alexandra Van Hasselt, Ashley Rubin, Burt Shevelove, Elijah Pearson-Martinez, Frank Francisco, j Savage, Johnbarry Green, Jonathan Van Dyke, Kravis Center, Larry Gelbart, Lauren Cluett, Meg Frost, Meredith Pughe, Michael Scott Ross, MNM, MNM Theatre Company, musical comedy, Paul Reekie, Paul Thompson, Plautus, Sean William Davis, Stephen Eisenwasser, Stephen Sondheim, Terry Hardcastle, Troy Stanley, Victoria Joleen Anderson
MNM Theatre Company and the Kravis Center
co-present
A Funny Thing Happened
on the Way to the Forum
Opening November 23rd in the Rinker Playhouse
“Something familiar… Something peculiar…
Something for everyone: A comedy tonight!”
For Immediate Release
Contact: Carol Kassie
carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244
November 12, 2019
WEST PALM BEACH, FL: 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.
Jonathan Van Dyke
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.”
Johnbarry Green
“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 or contact Carol Kassie at Carol@CarolKassie.com / 561-445-9244.
*Appearing through the courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
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A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
November 23 – December 8
(Preview performance November 22 at 7:30)
Book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
For Tickets: mnmtheatre.org / kravis.org / 561-832-7469
Performances:
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, & Saturday at 7:30 pm (no Thanksgiving night performance)
Wednesday, Saturday & Sunday at 1:30 pm
Tickets: $39 – $55
All performances in
Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center
701 Okeechobee Blvd.
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
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About the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts:
The Kravis Center is a not-for-profit performing arts center located at 701 Okeechobee Blvd. in West Palm Beach, FL. The Center’s mission is to enhance the quality of life in Palm Beach County by presenting a diverse schedule of national and international artists and companies of the highest quality, by offering comprehensive arts education programs – serving approximately 2.5 million schoolchildren since its inception; by providing a Palm Beach County home for local and regional arts organizations to showcase their work; and by providing an economic catalyst and community leadership in West Palm Beach, supporting efforts to increase travel and tourism to Palm Beach County. To enhance and elevate the customer experience, the Center has embarked upon a $50 million capital campaign to support a campus redesign and facility expansion that will create a more accessible, comfortable and pedestrian-friendly venue for the community. Aptly named Kravis 2020: The Future is Now, this campaign is at the heart of the Kravis Center’s vision for the future. For information, please visit kravis.org or call the Box Office at 561.832.7469.
Carol Kassie 