Absurdist antics keep ‘Forum’ frothy and funny

What's in a name?

Pretty much everything you need to know - at least when the name is "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," which opens a seven-performance run Friday at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

"Forum" refers not to the Forum Shops at Caesars but to the original in ancient Rome, befitting a musical inspired by the farces of the Roman playwright Plautus .

And "A Funny Thing Happened" just so happens to be the opening line for countless vaudeville-era jokes that begin, "A funny thing happened on the way to the theater ... "

Ultimately, however, it all boils down to one magic word: "funny."

After all, "the show is in the title," says Tammy Pessagno , who's directing and choreographing the Nevada Conservatory Theatre production with husband Rick Pessagno. "It's all about funny."

And "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" is nothing if not funny. Its book, by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart (whose comedic credits range from TV's "M*A*S*H" to the big screen's "Tootsie"), won a Tony Award, one of six the show captured following its 1962 arrival on Broadway.

Composer Stephen Sondheim - who finally got to write the melodies as well as the words, following his Broadway bow as lyricist for the legendary musicals "West Side Story" and "Gypsy" - didn't get a Tony nomination for his debut solo score.

But he did create one of Broadway's quintessential opening numbers, "Comedy Tonight," which reflects "Forum's" riotous style - and Sondheim's dazzling wordplay. ("Nothing with gods, nothing with fate," the song advises. "Weighty affairs will just have to wait!")

Ironically, "Comedy Tonight" didn't make it into the show until "Forum's" pre-Broadway tryouts, when Jerome Robbins (who directed "West Side Story") arrived to brainstorm changes - and suggested a new, bawdier number to open the show.

"Sometimes, we need to be led by the hand," Tammy Pessagno says, noting how well the song signals audiences that "we're here to have fun" and that "it's OK to laugh."

Indeed, it's almost impossible not to, considering the comedic elements on display throughout. Sondheim's "Comedy Tonight" lyrics describe some of them: "Pantaloons and tunics, courtesans and eunuchs, funerals and chases, baritones and basses. Panderers! Philanderers! Cupidity! Timidity! Mistakes! Fakes! Rhymes! Crimes!" (Not to mention tumblers, grumblers, bumblers and fumblers.)

"Forum's" action centers on the Roman slave Pseudolus (played by Jamie Torcelli ), who attempts to win his freedom by helping his young master Hero (Billy Reed) win the hand of Philia (Melody Wilson), the virginal girl next door.

Unfortunately, the house next door belongs to Marcus Lycus (John Maltese), a buyer and seller of beautiful women; even more unfortunately, Philia has been promised to mighty warrior Miles Gloriosus (Jordan Bondurant ), who's on his way back to Rome to claim her.

Thus the stage is set for slamming doors, mistaken identities and other mandatory elements of farce, including plenty of tongue-in-cheek puns and satirical commentaries on class distinctions.

And while the show may be set in ancient Rome, "there's something universal about its humor," Tammy Pessagno observes. "Funny is timeless."

This production of "Forum" reunites her with Torcelli, a college classmate who's one of two members of Actors Equity, the professional stage actors' union, featured in the show. (Jon Peterson, who plays henpecked Roman senator Senex - Hero's father, Pseudolus' boss - is the other.)

Rounding out the cast: Tony Blosser as Hysterium, Senex's chief slave; Jennifer Johnson as Domina, Senex's domineering wife; Jennifer Bonilla, Dhyana Dahl , Natalia Formisano , Paris McCarthy and Melissa Ritz as Philia's fellow courtesans; Paul Neal as Erroneus, an elderly neighbor searching for his children (kidnapped in infancy by pirates); and Sean Cancellieri , Justin Quintos and Gerrad Taylor as the proteans, a trio of chorus members "who do the work of 30" playing multiple roles, Pessagno explains.

"It's been a very collaborative piece," she notes, describing the blend of professional, community and student actors as "a nice mix."

Together in rehearsal, "every single day, we find more funny," she says. "There's an endless supply."

For the performers - and for the audience members, Pessagno concludes.

"That's what we need," she says. "Laughter in the seats."

Contact reporter Carol Cling at ccling@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272.