A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is the wacky collaboration between Plautus (a playwright of ancient Rome), Larry Gelbart (the guy who brought us M*A*S*H), and master songwriter Stephen Sondheim. In the story, a crafty slave struggles to win the hand of a beautiful but slow-witted courtesan for his young master, in exchange for freedom. It’s a simple little love story, complicated by mixed identities, bouts of the plague, kicks in the posterior, double takes, prat falls and courtesans next door. Songs include “Comedy Tonight,” “Pretty Little Picture” and “The House of Marcus Lycus.”