Tough Times Call For Comedy

“ Local production of a funny thing happened on the way to the forum a stimulus for all ”

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(eMusicWire.Org) – STATEN ISLAND – “Tragedy tomorrow, comedy tonight!” Nothing provides a better tonic for bad times than laughter, and few plays provide more laughter than A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. With unforgettable characters, zany script, and music by Stephen Sondheim, this classic American comedy will take audiences’ minds off the stock market, swine flu, and summer rain, at least for an evening.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum takes comedy back to its roots, combining 2000-year-old time-tested farce with the zany energy of classic vaudeville. The hilarious farce tells the story of crafty slave Pseudolus, whose schemes to gain his freedom pull in a bevy of beautiful courtesans, a couple of star-crossed lovers, a Roman captain, and fellow slave Hysterium.

The Staten Island Shakespearean Theatre has been bringing live performances to audiences on Staten Island for 33 years. After losing its home at the former Nurses Residence at Sea View (now the Park Lane at Sea View), the company is now producing site-specific performances, with plays carefully matched to venues. Forum, a big, bawdy musical, fits perfectly the Music Hall at Snug Harbor, the recently renovated 110-year former vaudeville theatre. The Harbor itself, with its classic Greek RevivaL architecture, offers the perfect setting for this wacky play set in ancient Rome.

With choreography by Ellen Tharp, and a cast that includes a former Miss Staten Island, Ryan Kelly; the host of the popular school quiz show, Cranial Crunch, Wayne Miller; Frank Albanese, a co-star of HBO’s The Sopranos, and many more.