A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Reading Other Reviews

Director Des McAnuff's Broadway version of Guys And Dolls flopped, but he seems to have bounced back at the Stratford festival with my other favorite musical, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum.

It's a great show, but depends on true clowns to make it work. As the authors described it, it's a scenario for Vaudevillians. According to the reviews, it's working. Haven't been to Stratford in quite a while--maybe it's time.

However, this review by Joel Rubinoff for Mercury News Services is quite odd. It's a rave, but a lot of it gives one pause:

Forum [...] is theatre as sitcom, the Three Stooges meet Shakespeare by way of William Shatner... That's a compliment?

Credit [...] Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim for endearingly cheesy musical numbers... They're cheesy? Does Sondheim know that?

If it all sounds rather old school, it's because the Broadway play on which it's based premiered in 1962, the same year the Beverly Hillbillies topped the TV Neilsens (sic), Doris Day and Rock Hudson ruled the box office and Jackie Kennedy pillbox hats were all the rage. The show is based on Plautus, and the creators avoided anachronisms and tried to make it timeless, but I guess Rubinoff has their number.

Forum, in the end, is theatre for people who think they hate theatre... And if you like theatre?